Mossad And The JFK Assassination
"Israel
need not apologize for the assassination or destruction of those who
seek to destroy it. The first order of business for any country is the
protection of its people."
Washington Jewish Week, October 9, 1997
In March, 1992, Illinois Representative Paul Findley said in The Washington
Report on Middle East Affairs, "It is interesting - but not surprising
- to note that in all the words written and uttered about the Kennedy
assassination, Israel's intelligence agency, the Mossad, has never been
mentioned."
Considering that the Mossad is quite possibly the most ruthless and
efficient intelligence agency in the world, it is peculiar that they
have never been scrutinized in relation to the Kennedy assassination,
especially when practically every other entity in the world (short of
Elvis impersonators) has been implicated. But that all changed in January,
1994 with the release of Michael Collins Piper's Final Judgment. In
this book, Piper says, "Israel's Mossad was a primary (and critical)
behind the scenes player in the conspiracy that ended the life of JFK.
Through its own vast resources and through its international contacts
in the intelligence community and in organized crime, Israel had the
means, it had the opportunity, and it had the motive to play a major
frontline role in the crime of the century - and it did."
Their motive? Israel's much touted Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion,
who ruled that country from its inception in 1948 until he resigned
on June 16, 1963, was so enraged at John F. Kennedy for not allowing
Israel to become a nuclear power that, Collins asserts, in his final
days in office he commanded the Mossad to become involved in a plot
to kill America's president.
Ben-Gurion was so convinced that Israel's very survival was in dire
jeopardy that in one of his final letters to JFK he said, "Mr.
President, my people have the right to exist, and this existence is
in danger."
In the days leading up to Ben-Gurion's resignation from office, he and
JFK had been involved in an unpublicized, contentious debate over the
possibility of Israel getting nuclear capabilities. Their disagreement
eventually escalated into a full-fledged war of words that was virtually
ignored in the press. Ethan Bronner wrote about this secret battle between
JFK and Ben-Gurion years later in a New York Times article on October
31, 1998, calling it a "fiercely hidden subject." In fact,
the Kennedy/Ben-Gurion conversations are still classified by the United
States Government. Maybe this is the case because Ben-Gurion's rage
and frustration became so intense - and his power so great within Israel
- that Piper contends it was at the center of the conspiracy to kill
John Kennedy. This stance is supported by New York banker Abe Feinberg,
who describes the situation as such: "Ben-Gurion could be vicious,
and he had such a hatred of the old man [Joe Kennedy, Sr., JFK's father]."
Ben-Gurion despised Joe Kennedy because he felt that not only was he
an anti-Semite, but that he had also sided with Hitler during the 1930's
and 40's. [We will touch upon this aspect of the story in an upcoming
article entitled The CIA and Organized Crime: Two Sides of the Same
Coin].
Anyway, Ben-Gurion was convinced that Israel needed nuclear weapons
to insure its survival, while Kennedy was dead-set against it. This
inability to reach an agreement caused obvious problems. One of them
revolved around Kennedy's decision that he would make America his top
priority in regard to foreign policy, and not Israel! Kennedy planned
to honor the 1950 Tripartite Declaration which said that the United
States would retaliate against any nation in the Middle East that attacked
any other country. Ben-Gurion, on the other hand, wanted the Kennedy
Administration to sell them offensive weapons, particularly Hawk missiles.
The two leaders thus engaged in a brutal letter exchange, but Kennedy
wouldn't budge. Ben-Gurion, obsessed by this issue, slipped into total
paranoia, feeling that Kennedy's obstinance was a blatant threat to
the very existence of Israel as a nation. Piper writes, "Ben-Gurion
had devoted a lifetime creating a Jewish State and guiding it into the
world arena. And, in Ben-Gurion's eyes, John F. Kennedy was an enemy
of the Jewish people and his beloved state of Israel." He continues,
"The 'nuclear option' was not only at the very core of Ben-Gurion's
personal world view, but the very foundation of Israel's national security
policy."
Ben-Gurion was so preoccupied with obtaining nuclear weapons that on
June 27, 1963, eleven days after resigning from office, he announced,
"I do not know of any other nation whose neighbors declare that
they wish to terminate it, and not only declare, but prepare for it
by all means available to them. We must have no illusions that what
is declared every day in Cairo, Damascus, and Iraq are just words. This
is the thought that guides the Arab leaders … I am confident …
that science is able to provide us with the weapons that will serve
the peace and deter our enemies."
Avner Cohen, in Israel and the Bomb, published by Columbia University
Press, reinforces this sense of urgency by writing, "Imbued with
lessons of the Holocaust, Ben-Gurion was consumed by fears of security
… Anxiety about the Holocaust reached beyond Ben-Gurion to infuse
Israel's military thinking." He further adds fuel to this point
by pointing out, "Ben-Gurion had no qualms about Israel's need
for weapons of mass destruction," and "Ben-Gurion's world
view and his decisive governing style shaped his critical role in instigating
Israel's nuclear progress."
Kennedy, on the other hand, was adamant in his refusal to promote Israel's
ascension to the nuclear stage. Avener Cohen, in Israel and the Bomb,
stresses, "No American president was more concerned with the danger
of nuclear proliferation than John Fitzgerald Kennedy. He was convinced
that the spread of nuclear weapons would make the world more dangerous
and undermine U.S. interests." Cohen continues at the end of this
passage, "The only example Kennedy used to make this point was
Israel."
Realizing that Kennedy would not change his mind, Ben-Gurion decided
to join forces with Communist China. Both countries were greatly interested
in creating nuclear programs, and so began their secret joint dealings.
Working in unison through intermediary Shaul Eisenberg, who was a partner
of Mossad gun-runner and accountant Tibor Rosenbaum, Israel and China
proceeded to develop their own nuclear capabilities without the knowledge
of the United States.
If you find this scenario improbable, I strongly urge you to read Gordon
Thomas' excellent book, Seeds of Fire, where he exposes how the Mossad
and CSIS (Chinese secret service) have conspired on many occasions to
not only steal American military secrets, but to also doctor U.S. intelligence
programs such as the Justice Department's PROMISE software. This instance,
I am afraid to say, is but the first where echoes of the JFK assassination
can still be felt today reverberating through our post 9-11 world. The
danger of Israel developing the Bomb in unison with China became a highly
volatile situation, and was closely monitored by the CIA.
Intent on pursuing this path, the Israeli's constructed a nuclear facility
at Dimona. When Kennedy demanded that the U.S. inspect this plant, Ben-Gurion
was so incensed that he erected another PHONY facility that held no
evidence of nuclear research and development. (Does this scenario sound
eerily familiar to the game we're playing with Saddam Hussein in Iraq
right now?) Fully aware of their shenanigans, though, JFK told Charles
Bartlett, "The sons of bitches lie to me constantly about their
nuclear capability."
Avner Cohen, in Israel and the Bomb, reiterates this claim by saying
that Ben-Gurion had taken the nuclear issue so closely to heart that
he, "concluded that he could not tell the truth about Dimona to
American leaders, not even in private."
Dr. Gerald M. Steinberg, political science professor at Bar-Ilan University's
BESA Center for Strategic Studies in Tel Aviv, weighs in by saying,
"Between 1961 and 1963, the Kennedy administration placed a great
deal of pressure on Ben-Gurion in the effort to pressure for acceptance
of international inspection of Dimona and Israeli abdication of their
nuclear weapons. This pressure apparently did not alter Israeli policy,
but it was a contributing factor to Ben-Gurion's resignation in 1963."
To convey how serious this situation had become in modern terms, look
at what is happening in Iraq with United Nations security teams inspecting
the royal palaces and bunkers for nuclear weapons and materials. This
matter is so urgent that our nation is on the verge of war. Forty years
earlier, the heat that JFK was placing on Ben-Gurion was equally as
strong as what George Bush is laying on Saddam Hussein today.
In Israel and the Bomb, Avner Cohen reinforces this point. "To
force Ben-Gurion to accept the conditions, Kennedy exerted the most
useful leverage available to an American president in dealing with Israel:
a threat that an unsatisfactory solution would jeopardize the U.S. government's
commitment to, and support of, Israel."
The pressure on Ben-Gurion was so immense that he ended up leaving office.
But Kennedy, in true pit-bull style, didn't let up on Ben-Gurion's successor,
Levi Eshkol, as Avner Cohen reports. "Kennedy told Eshkol that
the U.S. commitment and support of Israel 'could be seriously jeopardized'
if Israel did not let the U.S. obtain 'reliable information' about its
efforts in the nuclear field. Kennedy's demands were unprecedented.
They amounted, in effect, to an ultimatum." Cohen concludes this
thought by asserting, "Kennedy's letter precipitated a near-crisis
situation in Eshkol's office."
In the end, as we're all aware, Kennedy was assassinated in November
1963; but less known is that China conducted its first nuclear test
in October, 1964. What makes this event more profound is Piper's claim
that even though Israel said its first nuclear tests took place in 1979,
they actually occurred in October, 1964 along with the Chinese! If this
is true, other than August, 1945 when the United States dropped atomic
bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, October 1964 may possibly be the most
dangerous month in 20th century history.
Let's return, though, to JFK's assassination and the direct results
of it in regard to the Jewish lobby, American foreign policy, and the
militarization of Israel. To understand how powerful the Israeli lobby
is in this country, venerable Senator J. William Fulbright told CBS
Face the Nation on April 15, 1973, "Israel controls the U.S. Senate.
The Senate is subservient, much too much; we should be more concerned
about U.S. interests rather than doing the bidding of Israel. The great
majority of the Senate of the U.S. - somewhere around 80% - is completely
in support of Israel; anything Israel wants; Israel gets. This has been
demonstrated time and again, and this has made [foreign policy] difficult
for our government."
Do you hear what Senator Fulbright said? This isn't a crazy conspiracy
theorist or a KKK anti-Semite. It's a much-respected U.S. Senator saying
that about 80% of the Senate is in Israel's hip pocket. Adding clout
to this argument is Rep. Paul Findley, who was quoted in The Washington
Report on Middle East Affairs in March, 1992, "During John Kennedy's
campaign for the presidency, a group of New York Jews had privately
offered to meet his campaign expenses if he would let them set his Middle
East policy. He did not agree … As the president, he provided only
limited support of Israel."
To understand how important Kennedy's decisions were during his short-lived
presidency, we need to look at the issue of campaign finance. Considering
how influential the Israeli lobby is in the U.S. Senate (hearkening
back to the words of Senator Fulbright), they had to have been enraged
when President Kennedy genuinely wanted to cut the knees out from under
the current campaign finance methods because it made politicians so
reliant upon the huge cash inlays of special-interest groups. Regrettably,
Kennedy did not have the time to implement this program, and to this
day our political system is still monopolized by lobbyists from the
very same special-interest groups. One can only imagine what changes
would have occurred in regard to our foreign policy had Kennedy eradicated
these vipers and blood-suckers from the halls of Congress.
Tragically, Kennedy's ideas never came to fruition, and his heated battle
with Prime Minister Ben-Gurion over whether Israel should be allowed
to develop a nuclear program was ultimately lost. The reason why is
that Lyndon Baines Johnson, who Kennedy intended to drop from his ticket
in 1964 due to his extreme dislike for, had a complete reversal in foreign
policy. As you will see, not only did Israel's nuclear program move
ahead unchecked; they also became the primary beneficiary of our foreign
aid.
But
this absolute turnaround would not have occurred if Kennedy would not
have been assassinated. Up until LBJ became president, Kennedy dealt
with the Middle East in a way that most benefited the U.S. His primary
goal - and one which would most keep the peace - was a balance of power
in the Middle East so that each and every nation would be secure. This
decision adhered to the Tripartite Declaration which the U.S. signed
in 1950. But under the Johnson administration, this fragile balance
was overturned, and by 1967 - only four years after Kennedy's assassination
- the U.S. was Israel's main weapons supplier, and OUR best interests
were put well behind those of Israel!
As Michael Collins Piper writes: "The bottom line is this: JFK
was adamantly determined to stop Israel from building the nuclear bomb.
LBJ simply looked the other way. JFK's death did indeed prove beneficial
to Israel's nuclear ambitions and the evidence proves it."
Reuven Pedatzer, in a review of Avner Cohen's Israel and the Bomb, in
the Israeli Newspaper Ha'aretz on February 5, 1999 wrote, "The
murder of American president John F. Kennedy brought to an abrupt end
the massive pressure being applied by the U.S. administration on the
government of Israel to discontinue their nuclear program." He
continues, "Kennedy made it quite clear to the Israeli Prime Minister
that he would not under any circumstances agree to Israel becoming a
nuclear state." Pedatzer concludes, "Had Kennedy remained
alive, it is doubtful whether Israel would today have a nuclear option,"
and that, "Ben-Gurion's decision to resign in 1963 was taken to
a large extent against the background of the tremendous pressure that
Kennedy was applying on him concerning the nuclear issue."
If you're still not convinced; how about some numbers? In Kennedy's
last fiscal budget year of 1964, Israeli aid was $40 million. In LBJ's
first budget of 1965, it soared to $71 million, and in 1966 more than
tripled from two years earlier to $130 million! Plus, during Kennedy's
administration, almost none of our aid to Israel was military in nature.
Instead, it was split equally between development loans and food assistance
under the PL480 Program. Yet in 1965 under the Johnson administration,
20% of our aid to Israel was for the military, while in 1966, 71% was
used for war-related materials.
Continuing in this same vein, in 1963 the Kennedy administration sold
5 Hawk missiles to Israel as part of an air-defense system. In 1965-66,
though, LBJ laid 250 tanks on Israel, 48 Skyhawk attack aircrafts, plus
guns and artillery which were all offensive in nature. If you ever wondered
when the Israeli War Machine was created, this is it! LBJ was its father.
According to Stephen Green in Taking Sides: America's Secret Relations
with a Militant Israel, "The $92 million in military assistance
provided in fiscal year 1966 was greater than the total of all official
military aid provided to Israel cumulatively in all the years going
back to the foundation of that nation in 1948."
Green continues, "70% of all U.S. official assistance to Israel
has been military. America has given Israel over $17 billion in military
aid since 1946, virtually all of which - over 99% - has been provided
since 1965."
Can you see what's happening here? Within two years of JFK's assassination,
Israel went from being a weak, outmatched member of the volatile Middle
Eastern community that was not allowed to develop nuclear weapons to
one that was well on its way to becoming a undeniable military force
on the world stage. John Kennedy adamantly put his foot down and refused
to allow Israel to develop a nuclear program, while LBJ bent over backward
to facilitate and bolster them. Or, as Seymour Hersh wrote in The Samson
Option, "By 1968, the president had no intention of doing anything
to stop the Israeli bomb."
The result of this shift in focus from the Kennedy to Johnson administration
is, in my opinion, the PRIMARY reason behind our current troubles in
the Middle East which culminated in the 9-11 attacks and our upcoming
war with Iraq (and beyond). I have a great deal of confidence in this
statement, for as Michael Collins Piper points out, here are the results
of John F. Kennedy's assassination:
1) Our foreign and military aid to Israel increased dramatically once
LBJ became president.
2) Rather than trying to maintain a BALANCE in the Middle East, Israel
suddenly emerged as the dominant force.
3) Since the LBJ administration, Israel has always had weaponry that
was superior to any of its direct neighbors.
4) Due to this undeniable and obvious increase in Israel's War Machine,
a constant struggle has been perpetuated in the Middle East.
5) LBJ also allowed Israel to proceed with its nuclear development,
resulting in them becoming the 6th largest nuclear force in the world.
6) Finally, our huge outlays of foreign aid to Israel (approximately
$10 billion/year when all is said and done) has created a situation
of never-ending attacks and retaliation in the Middle East, plus outright
scorn and enmity against the U.S. for playing the role of Israel's military
enabler.
In Israel's, and especially David Ben-Gurion's eyes then, what were
their alternatives - to remain weakened (or at least balanced) in relation
to their neighbors and handcuffed by JFK's refusal to bow to their will,
or KILL the one man standing in their way to becoming dominant in the
Middle East, the recipient of huge amounts of military aid, and one
of the premier nuclear forces in the world? It's something to think
about. Also, while these thoughts are running through your head, ask
yourself this question. If Kennedy, LBJ, and all subsequent administrations
would have adhered to the 1950 Tripartite Declaration and did everything
in their power to maintain balance in the Middle East instead of pushing
Israel to the forefront, would our Towers have been attacked on 9-11,
2001, and would we be on the verge of a possibly catastrophic war today?
It's certainly something to ponder.
Israel's
War Machine, JFK's Assassination, and the Atomic Bomb:
An Overivew of Michael Collins Piper's "Final Judgment" by
Victor Thorn
See: http://www.babelmagazine.com/issue89/finaljudgment89.html
