Criticism of the performance of Israel’s intelligence services during the Persian Gulf crisis produced a surprise announcement by Defense Minister Moshe Arens on Wednesday: He told the Knesset that Israel would soon launch its own spy satellite.
The disclosure was the first in public by a senior Cabinet member. Israel has launched two experimental communications satellites over the past two years. The second was launched last April, a day after Saddam Hussein threatened to destroy half of Israel with chemical weapons.
But neither of the satellites possess6d intelligence capabilities.
Opposition politicians have berated the government for its need during the Gulf war to rely on U.S. satellite data for intelligence about Iraqi Scud missile launchers.
Labor Knesset member Michael Bar-Zohar accused the government of ignoring Iraq’s military buildup since 1981, when Israeli war planes destroyed its nuclear facility in a pre-emptive raid. He claimed that Israel had no advance intelligence of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait last Aug. 2.
Arens maintained that Israel’s intelligence was up to date throughout the Persian Gulf crisis. He said that he had in fact relayed information to U.S. Defense Secretary Dick Cheney before the Gulf war began on Jan. 17.
The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee decided nevertheless to establish a subcommittee to study the functioning of the intelligence community during the recent hostilities.
INTELLIGENCE ON SCUDS ASSAILED
An outspoken member of the panel, Yossi Sarid, engaged in verbal jousting Tuesday with Gen. Amnon Shahak, outgoing chief of military intelligence, who has been promoted to deputy chief of staff, effective April 1.
Committee members outdid each other in praise of the general at what was a festive farewell held behind closed doors because of the sensitive nature of Shahak’s former job.
Sarid’s sharp questioning was a jarring note. It was revealed to the Knesset plenum Wednesday by Bar-Zohar, a committee member.
Sarid, who represents the dovish Citizens Rights Movement, observed that “Shahak is a qualified and talented officer whose promotion should be welcome.
“But the intelligence community suffers from objective problems, unrelated to the personality or talents of this or that officer, and those need re-evaluation,” he said.
One of Sarid’s most serious charges was that Israeli intelligence failed to obtain basic information about Iraqi missile launchers.
Shahak, a soft-spoken man who wears what some describe as a perpetual cynical grin, told the Knesset member he was doing an injustice to the thousands of officers and soldiers of the intelligence corps who had prepared “an accurate reading of the situation.”
When one deals with intelligence, there is always an element of doubt, Shahak said. He insisted nevertheless that the figures on the number of Iraqi missile launchers, fixed and mobile, were accurate.
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