The Barry Chamish Website
GILAD SHALIT IS DEAD, WE HAVE TO FACE IT!
by Barry Chamish
May 29, 2011
I was filmed
on May 25 by an Israeli TV show, BuzzTV. Producer Ronit Melamed was
very persistent that I do a Skype-linked TV interview but I told her
on several occasions that I didn't have the equipment. Nonetheless,
she urged me to find it, and in the end my web-guy Steven set up a
little TV studio in my living room. After 6 years I was back on
Israeli TV.
Ronit prepared me for the show
a week in advance. She asked me if I had ever written about Elhanan
Tannenbaum. As it happened, I had. Before I tell you how, let's get
some of my background research:
The desperation fueling this energy
reached a new peak this week when our government handed 435
highly motivated terrorists to Hizbullah for the bodies of three
soldiers murdered by the same Hizbullah and one live Mossad
agent. Of the living Elhanan Tannenbaum, a lieutenant colonel in
the IDF, we know from the Jerusalem Post that he, "worked
as a consultant for a major arms firm which deals with the
Defence Ministry's most sensitive technology...The firm's
records were destroyed in a fire that gutted its basement in
July, 2001...They
have maintained that Elhanan served his country more than anyone
imagines and more than they can publicly say."
Or in other words, he was not just the crooked
businessman the public has been fed to believe. The government
released 435 of the enemy, and has reportedly promised to
release another 3000 or so for one of its own agents. In return,
Israel received three bodies and conducted a vulgar and
tasteless televised ceremony on their behalf, and not a few
people wondered if they even were the real bodies. The doubts
stem from the fact that body parts snatcher Dr. Yehuda Hiss, the
same pathologist who changed Yitzhak Rabin's wounds in his
tainted autopsy report, was the one chosen to verify the
veracity of the corpses through DNA testing. And who trusts him
to tell the truth?
"An IDF delegation has set off for Germany to confirm that the
three bodies Hizbullah is sending to Germany are indeed those of
the three soldiers killed by the terrorist organization 40
months ago. The delegation, headed by IDF Chief Rabbi Brig.-Gen.
Yehuda Weiss and
Abu Kabir Forensic Institute head Prof.
Yehuda Hiss, is bringing DNA samples of the family members of
the fallen soldiers Adi Avitan, Benny Avraham and Omar Souad."
In November 2000, I was invited to present my knowledge of
the Tannenbaum kidnapping at a hush-hush meeting of mid-level IDF
officers who were prepared to oust Ehud Barak from the prime
minister's office if he didn't take action to rescue Tannenbaum.
They were talking coup:
Certain
officers now understood that Barak was under international orders
not to utililize the IDF to defend the nation or avenge the murders
of its citizens. The first grumblings of "coup" were heard. The
final straw was Hizbullah's kidnapping of Colonel Tannenbaum. The
officers knew that he was being tortured and forced to reveal the
names, addresses and all details of IDF staff, strategy, equipment
and facilities. They summoned Barak to mount an operation inside
Lebanon involving mass hostage taking to secure the release of
Tannenbaum but were again rebuffed by Barak. Not knowing which
demoralizing IDF fiasco was next and fearing that Israelis would
take to the streets to secure the protection their army was
forbidden to provide, high level but still informal discussions to
plan a Barak overthrow gained momentum.
Ronit surmised
accurately that I did not buy into the final conclusion that
Tannenbaum wasn't working for the Mossad when he was kidnapped. He
was just a lowly drug dealer:
Elhanan Tannenbaum, the Israeli
businessman who was kidnapped by Hizbullah operatives in 2001, told
a Tel Aviv court on Wednesday that he had sought to seal a drugs
deal worth USD 200,000 with the organization.
Tannenbaum told the court that upon his return to Israel he didn't
tell interrogators that he had traveled to Dubai to finalize a drugs
deal.
Elhanan Tannenbaum
was captured after being lured under the false pretenses of a
drug
deal. He was traveling on a forged passport. Tannenbaum's capture
was announced on 16 October 2000.
His capture is
believed to have been conducted by
Imad Mugniyah,
a senior member of Hezbollah. The capture was executed by Sheik Kais
Obeid, an
Israeli Arab,
a grandson of former Knesset member
Diyab Obeid,
who crossed the lines to become senior officer for Hezbollah. Obeid
was a close friend of Tannenbaum.
Tannenbaum was released in January 2004 as part of a prisoner swap
with Hezbollah. The swap, mediated by
Germany,
resulted in the exchange of 435 prisoners held by Israel in return
for Tannenbaum's release and the return of the bodies of three
soldiers killed during an ambush along the Israeli-Lebanese border.[1]
Following his release, Tannenbaum was placed under arrest for his
illegal actions that led up to his capture. He agreed to a
plea-bargain and admitted to the reasons behind his travel to Dubai
and described the details of his capture. In exchange, he was not
tried for any crime and served no jail time.[2]
Among the 435 people released were
Mustafa Dirani
and
Sheikh Abdul-Karim Obeid.
These two individuals were kidnapped, in 1994 and 1989 respectively,
for use as bargaining chips in the effort to secure the release of
the most famous of the
Israeli MIAs,
Ron Arad.
Fearing the release of these men would end any hope of finding Arad,
his family attempted to take legal action to prevent their release.
Nothing came of this effort.In December 2006, Tannenbaum, for the
first time, admitted that he went to Dubai to complete a drug deal.
He had expected to make $200,000 (€152,000) on the deal.[3]
I
suspiciously asked her why she was doing a feature on Tennenbaum, a
minor scandal compared to the coverups of the murder and murder in
name of Rabin and Sharon. She replied that perhaps a similar deal as
Tannenbaum's could be used to rescue the kidnapped soldier Gilad
Shalit. I told her, "There's one huge difference. Tannenbaum was
alive and could be rescued, while Shalit is dead and can't."
She was shocked. "Who says?" she asked.
"Anyone with an ounce of reality."
"Have you researched Shalit?"
"Enough to speak about it," I replied. Shalit's kidnapping had
been sufficiently scandalous to bear examination:
From DEBKA, a report proven accurate:
Maj.-Gen (Ret) Giora Eiland traced the breakdown which allowed a
Hamas-led squad overrun an Israeli army post on the Israeli side of
the southern Gaza border, kill two soldiers and snatch Corporal
Gilad Shalit on June 25, to an “operational” breakdown. He did not
lay it at the door of commanders and their conduct.
“None of them lied or failed to perform their duties,” said Gen.
Eiland, former national security adviser, in the report on the
inquiry the chief of staff entrusted him to carry into the causes of
the incident at the Kerem Shalom post. Most damningly, Eilat
affirmed that the corporal’s abduction could have been aborted. The
kidnappers and their hostage were clearly visible on the unit’s
electronic screens as they crossed the border into the Gaza Strip,
but the tank commander delayed by first asking his superior for
permission to open fire and abort their flight...What more logical
than to put IDF ambushes squads behind enemy lines to trap the
assailants when they return to their base in Gaza? Knowing they
might be there, the Hamas-led kidnap team would have realized its
escape route with Shalit was blocked and might have been deterred
from the abduction.
My
interview was with Ziv Ben-Tsvi. He first asked me to say that I
knew I was being filmed and I was handing them the right to edit me
as they choose. I jokingly repeated the vow until the end which I
changed to, "and you can exploit me with my permission." He looked
stunned by my agreement but I knew what to expect from the Israeli
media. Somewhere there was going to be a trap. The media is largely
leftist and they are arrogant enough to believe their reality IS
reality. Very quickly I understood my role: I would play the radical
conspiracy nut and they would tear me apart intellectually, thus
proving for all time that Tannenbaum was a drug dealer and not an
intelligence agent like the nutty conspiracy nuts nuttily think.
But they
didn't get that angle. I was calm, friendly and accurate. Here are a
few quotes from me:
"Tannenbaum
was an advisor for an arms firm whose records were destroyed just
before Tannenbaum's trial in 2001. What are the odds? He admits he
was a major drug dealer in court and is not sentenced to prison
time. He cut a deal to stay out of jail by making up an alternative
story to keep the public's interest off the fiasco of the real
operation."
"Do you think
the Israeli government would trade 435 prisoners to rescue a drug
dealer?"
"The bodies the dead soldiers were fluffy icing on the cake.
They were another diversion to keep the population comatose."
Ben-Tsvi answered me in simplistic terms. "Tannenbaum admitted
he was in Beirut to seal a big drug deal. Why can't you believe
him?"
"Because," I replied, "A colonel in the IDF is not permitted to
visit an enemy country. That crime alone would have landed in prison
for a long time."
Ben-Tsvi
finally relented a lot. "Let's say you're right and Tannenbaum was
working for the Mossad, (which I never actually said), then what was
the security harm of his rescue?"
I replied, "All the prisoners promised not to return to
terrorism and most did as soon as they got back to Lebanon. Scores
of Israelis became their victims again."
Then came the issue of Gilad Shalit whose 1800th day in
captivity was commemorated this week. Ronit told me to present my
findings, but Ben-Tsvi wanted nothing to do with them.
"Listen, " I said. "Before he became a 'drug dealer', the media
was reporting that Tannenbaum was in Beirut to rescue Ron Arad. (A
long deceased captured airman). And that story makes more sense than
him being a major drug seller. And just like Arad, Shalit is dead
and it's dangerous politics to say so."
Ben-Tsvi looked interested and let me continue.
"We know the nature of our enemy but Israelis are ignoring that,
for reasons I can't fathom. Barely two years ago Israel attacked
Gaza in a massive operation. Shalit's recovery should have been a
condition of withdrawal. Instead, Israel walked out without Shalit.
Either the IDF cares nothing about its captured soldiers or in the
highest ranks, they knew Shalit was dead.
If you kidnap someone and intend to keep him alive, you agree to let
outsiders, Germany, the Red Cross, see him and bring back proof of
his safety. It's been years without word from Shalit and you know
why that is."
As does everyone reading this. We have to face it.
end
**
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**
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