The U.S. is dropping 4-year-old charges against two former lobbyists for AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) charged with conspiring to give secret information to Israel. The two, Keith Weissman and Steven Rosen, had won the right to call as witnesses top officials to testify that the US itself has often used AIPAC in this manner to pass information to Israel.
The case originally broke in the summer of 2004, and in August of 2005 the two were indicted on charges of "conspiracy to communicate national defense information to people not entitled to receive it." Rosen was also charged with actually communicating classified information.
The two were apparently “set up” by the FBI, with low-level Pentagon official Larry Franklin passing them purportedly secret info about a draft presidential directive on Iran, as well as Iranian plans to kidnap and kill Israelis working in the Kurdish areas of northern Iraq. Rosen and Weissman then allegedly notified the Israeli embassy in Washington.
Franklin turned State's witness, but is now serving a 12-year-sentence. Early signs of a campaign for his pardon, in light of the developments, have been noted.
The ordeal for Weissman and Rosen was made more difficult in April 2005 when AIPAC fired the two. However, legal developments repeatedly went in their favor, as their trial was postponed a total of nine times.
Embarrassing for U.S.
In 2007, the defendants won a major battle when it was ruled that they could call over 10 prominent government officials as witnesses, including former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The defendants’ lawyers said at the time that the testimony would show that Washington frequently uses AIPAC as a back channel by which to pass classified information to Israel.
As AP reported, “Critics of the [case] accused the federal government of trying to criminalize the sort of back-channel discussions between government officials, lobbyists and reporters that are commonplace in the nation’s capital.”
Another preliminary court ruling by U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III required the U.S. prosecution to prove that Rosen and Weissman had actually intended to harm the United States, and not merely to help Israel.
In addition, in February of this year, a Virginia federal appeals court ruled that Rosen and Weissman would be permitted to use some classified information at their trial. Their lawyers expressed the hope then that the ruling would persuade the government to withdraw the charges.
Two Days Before AIPAC Conference
The decision comes just four weeks before the trial was to begin – and two days before the three-day annual AIPAC policy conference begins in Washington, D.C. Israel’s President Shimon Peres and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will address the conference, as will Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu via satellite.
Acting U.S. Attorney Dana Boente announced on Friday that "given the diminished likelihood the government will prevail at trial," and because of the “inevitable disclosure of classified information that would occur at any trial in this matter," he had asked for the dismissal of the indictments. Judge Ellis must officially approve the request for it to go through.
Two Blows to AIPAC
Though an AIPAC spokesman said the group was “pleased” at the decision, the prestigious Israeli lobby has suffered two image blows in the case. One is at being perceived at having abandoned its two employees by firing them, and the other is the enhancement of negative perceptions regarding pro-Israel lobbying operations.