I’ve previously been skeptical of the Lebanese claims that Israel has an extensive spy network in Lebanon. The NY Times today, has a more extensive report on the story.
Mr. Homsi, 61, was the deputy mayor of Saadnayel, a town in the Bekaa Valley. According to a report in the Lebanese newspaper Al Safir, which has links to Hezbollah, Mr. Homsi had told interrogators he was assigned to meet Mr. Nasrallah, which he apparently failed to do. Israeli monitors planned to track his movements as he went to meet the Hezbollah leader.
Mr. Homsi, who was arrested on May 16, said that he had started working for Israel because he needed the money, the newspaper reported, and that he had been paid $100,000.
Many friends and relatives of those accused of being spies say they cannot believe the accusations. “He’s been a friend for more than 18 years,†Issam Rouhaymi, the mayor of Saadnayel, said about Mr. Homsi. “Nobodycould believe such a thing.â€
Mr. Homsi was active in the Future Movement, the pro-American political party that is opposed to Hezbollah. Mr. Homsi’s brother said the charges had been manufactured to damage the party’s chances in the elections.
Mr. Homsi sounds like a convenient target. His arrest discredits a pro-American political party. It’s possible, of course, that that’s why he was recruited. But I’m skeptical. And how likely is it that someone with his political leanings would meet with Nasrallah?
The Times gives two more cases:
Some contrived elaborate schemes to avoid detection. Ali al-Jarrah, who was arrested last year and accused of spying for Israel for 25 years, had two homes and two wives who did not know of each other. Adib al-Alam, a retired general arrested in April, had established a domestic maid service at the behest of his Israeli spymasters, officials have said. He used it to disguise his telephone calls and trips abroad to meet with Israeli officers.
Ali al-Jarrrah sounds like a possibility. After all, if he has two wives, he is susceptible to blackmail. However Gen. al-Alam, the little information provided here makes the case against him sound contrived.
Perhaps most infuriating of all, for Lebanese investigators, was what happened this week. On Sunday and Monday, two people accused of being spies escaped across the southern border into Israel, one of them bringing his family with him, according to a Lebanese government complaint submitted to the United Nations. The Israeli military helped them escape, the report states. Another man staged a similar escape this month.
These sound the most likely to have been spies, as the NYT article concludes:
It must have been a daring and risky escape, passing through Hezbollah’s home terrain and across a fenced and guarded border. But it is not impossible.
“There are crossing points,†said Timur Goksel, a former senior adviser of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon. “But I don’t think the Israelis would help just anyone cross over. It would have to be someone they saw as important.â€
There is another aspect of this story that’s disconcerting. Early on the Times reported:
The arrests appear to reflect a newly energized and coordinated effort by the Lebanese security agencies, which now cooperate far more effectively among themselves and with Hezbollah, the Shiite militant group based here, than they did in the past.
“New technologies have helped in catching them,†said Gen. Ashraf Rifi, the director of the Internal Security Forces. “But we have also had better cooperation with the army than we had before.â€
So assuming that the spy network is real – I have to assume that it is, though perhaps not as extensive as Lebanese officials or Hezbollah claim – apparently American aid to bolster the Lebanese government has been used to thwart the Israeli espionage network. Another lesson unlearned. And if the Americans are inadvertently helping Hezbollah might they want to reconsider given the latest accusation about Hezbollah’s involvement with the Hariri assassination? (I don’t believe this gets Syria off the hook, but Syria and Hezbollah are doing Iran’s bidding in Lebanon. In the meantime, Hezbollah and Iran seem to be acting a bit paranoid.
Crossposted on Soccer Dad.
