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Shalom said~Foreign Ministry has been dealing with this case since Friday afternoon.
:::t;! Estat..Q before the allegations were air~~ on CBS. Israel, Shalom said" has a firm policy that it has
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not strayed from of not conducting any espionage activities in the us.
Shalom said he believes there are reasons for the timing of the leak about the investigation
of Franklin, but refused to say what he thinks those reasons are.
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However, other Israeli officials over the last two days have said th~ allegations, coming on
the eve of the Republican National Convention, are meant to embarrass US President
George W. Bush, and are part of an ongoing poliCy battle in Washington being waged
among officials in the State Department, CIA, and Pentagon who are at odds over US policy
in Iraq.
Asked whether Israel was concerned that one ofits senior diplomats was being trailed by
FBI agents, Shalom replied "you don't know if he was being followed." Other minister
officials in the Foreign Ministry said that the "tail" on Gilon should not come as any surprise,
and that the operative assumption of most diplomats abroad is that they are under a certain
degree of surveillance.,
In New York on Monday, Sen. Gordon Smith (R·Oregon) told the Anti-Defamation League's
New York regional board that the allegation of espionage made little sense.
"It doesn't add up to me because I know how closely we share with the State of Israel now,"
said Smith, "and there is no reason for there to be any espionage operations either way. I'm
very skeptical'and I've got a lot of questions to ask when we get to the appropriate
hearings."
One House Democratic staffer said: "My impression is that the Justice Department is
backing off."
VVhile CBS news originally reported'on Friday that the Justice Department was poised to
"r~1I up" some agents as early as this week, the New York Times reported on Monday that
no arrest appears imminent since authorities are unsure if Franklin even broke the law.
Continued
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SECURITY-DIPLOMACY
o IAF botches killing of Aksa M.arjyrs fugitives
o IAE_ to target Kassam launch crew~ a-"~ factories
• ~ir ~its are rare. i!l West Bank
• Fourt..h suspect arrested for fo~cing strike
o Bomb-sniffing dogs use~..f9r Jerusale~ city buses
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