been mainly through SIGINT, interception of radio and other electronic signals.”
That was an understatement. No other nation in the world has capabilities in that area of electronic intelligence that come even close to those of the United States. In this field, size does matter. But America is sorely lacking in HUMINT, human intelligence, and inside Iran there are no longer any viable human assets. Therefore, cooperating with the Mossad made perfect sense.
Kyle turned to Benny. “You have made some notable achievements in gathering intelligence by recruiting sources.”
Benny nodded in accord. “As I said, we don’t outsource our defense,” he proudly pointed out. “We continue to be active not only in drying up terrorist financing, but we vigorously toil to limit the number of terrorists to ease the burden on their financiers,” he said with a chuckle. “Accidents happen-for example in Lebanon, which has always been a hub of terror.”
I could understand why he chuckled. Although there were several such “events” each year, I thought of two that had attracted my attention. In 2002, two “accidents” happened in Lebanon: one to a drug dealer who provided intelligence to Hezbollah, and one several months later to an Al-Qaeda operative. The Lebanese media attributed these misfortunes to the Mossad.
“But who knows who is really responsible for these accidents? I hear that two Hezbollah operatives were sent to rest with their ancestors. In other news I heard that two Hamas men in Damascus, Syria, were killed. They should have been more careful,” concluded Benny, and all smiled. What Benny did was a smart job of insinuation. It is quite possible the Mossad was behind those killings, but maybe some or all of the other eliminations had been a result of internal rifts and local rivalries. Benny left this open. It was nice to know he wasn’t cryptic only with me.
Benny’s tone of voice became serious. “The Iranians believe in tit for tat- Aemaeli ya: t
“We discovered that the new Iranian government made a strategic decision soon after the seizure of its funds by the U.S.: recoup through unconventional means the money that the U.S. had frozen, plus interest and penalty,” he added, smirking. “If additional goals could be achieved along the way, such as undermining the U.S. economy, then tefadlu, as they say in the Middle East-welcome!
“We don’t know if the decision of the Iranian government was fully implemented. But we do know that as part of that decision, they earmarked money to be stolen from the U.S. to finance terror and clandestine activities. The slush fund created for that purpose was very beneficial, because terror funding didn’t go through the regular Iranian government bud get, which many eyes see.
“This is where U.S. and Israeli interests join. You want to get those bastards who collapsed some of your banks, and we both want to stop the money flow which finances terror organizations that murder our and your citizens. As nine eleven has shown the world, terror does not stop in the Middle East. May I remind you all,” he said, just a touch theatrically, “that many people maybe haven’t noticed, but World War III has already begun. It’s the terrorists against the rest of the world.” Benny sat down.
Kyle looked at his watch. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it’s already four thirty. Let’s break now and meet at eight o’clock for dinner.”
We went outside to get fresh air before dinner. “Come,” Benny said. “Let’s have coffee.” We got in his car and went to Giverny. He stopped near Musee d’Art Americain and entered Terra Cafe. “Let’s go outside,” he said.
We walked to the beautiful porch and sat under a wooden pergola. I ordered a quiche, and Benny had just coffee. I knew Benny had something on his mind, so I just waited for him to start. When he didn’t, I asked, “You just gave us a theory, but no evidence or even a direction. Where does it lead us? Where is the touch point to the money trail?”
“Our longtime clandestine cooperation with the Kurds in Iran and Iraq has yielded interesting results,” said Benny with a smile like that of the cat that just ate the canary.
I knew what he meant. Israel had always thought it would be a fatal mistake not to extend its defense lines hundreds of miles away from its physical borders. It wanted to know when its enemy left its bases to attack Israel, rather than to be awakened when the enemy was at Israel’s door. A close relationship with the Kurds in Iraq and Iran had given Israel an observation point and a human early-warning system. Since as early as 1965, Israel had been training and supporting Kurdish commandos fighting for Kurdish independence. That enabled Israel to run covert operations inside Kurdish areas of Iran, Iraq, and Syria, primarily for intelligence-gathering operations.
Benny continued. “Together with Kurdish commandos, our agents have entered Iran and installed sensors and other intelligence-gathering devices that, for the most part, target suspected Iranian nuclear facilities.”
It had already been known for some time. Not all communications are transferred by the Internet, definitely not military and intelligence data, unless heavily encrypted. That is particularly true with respect to countries, such as Iran, which aren’t there yet in terms of computer sophistication. So Benny’s men were milking information from the Iranians by somehow listening to Iranian communication lines.
“As an observant Jew, I believe in the wisdom of our sages, which has taught us that we must study Torah not for a reward in the present or in the afterlife, but just for the sake of study. By studying Torah, a reward will come.”
“So?” I asked impatiently, champing at the bit.
“Here is a present-day application of that wisdom. Our devices were meant to alert us to Iran’s nuclear capabilities. But unexpectedly we benefited from these listening devices and unearthed loads of information about Iranian covert operations in support of terror organizations.”
“Go ahead,” I urged him. Of course, shrewd operator that he was, I fully realized that he would tell me only as much as he intended to tell me, but that didn’t make me any less eager to hear what he had to say.
“We know that there were extensive top-secret communications in Iran in connection with the U.S. The word Atashbon, Farsi for the guardians of fire, was very frequently used. We assume it to be a code name.” He gave me a clever look and started returning to his car, leaving me puzzled. But I knew Benny-more info was forthcoming. We returned to the chateau.
After dinner I joined Benny and Nicole Blair for a visit to Monet’s gardens and the Musee d’Art Americain, but their gates were already closed.
On the following day, we convened again in the dining room. Kyle and Benny summed up the conference. We were divided into four working groups and were taken to separate smaller rooms to continue talking. We finally talked shop and specifics.
I had breakfast with Benny before he left. He ate only bread and yogurt, knowing that the food served there wasn’t kosher.
“Do you know what’s next?” I asked. “The conclusion of the evening last night was somewhat vague. Is the cooperation on Iran’s terror financing between Israel and the U.S. across the board?” I asked.
Benny nodded. “I think we’ll have an agreement to cooperate in the operations discussed. However, each operation will be independently approved. Intel gathering ops will be separate. In other operations, there will be no mixed teams. To avoid problems resulting from disparity in political cultures and translations, each organization will be assigned a different piece of the action, and there will be a coordination meeting every two weeks-or sooner, if developments warrant it. “One good thing happened last night,” he concluded. “I wasn’t preached to.”
“What?” I didn’t get it.
Benny glanced at me from above his eyeglasses. “Our agenda is to eliminate our worst enemies, while most of the Free World still wants to turn a blind eye-as long as their countries remain intact-and preach to us to see the good side of our enemies.” He chuckled. “That is hypocrisy at its best, or rather, at its worst. Last night I was with people who think like me.”
