United States of Israel?

GRAND JURY QUERY OF AIPAC OFFICIALS POSTPONED UNTIL NEW YEAR
Nathan Guttman, Haaretz, 12/22/04


WASHINGTON - The interrogation of four American Israel Public Affairs
Committee senior officials, which was to take place this week, has been
postponed until after the New Year holiday.

The four are slated to testify before a grand jury investigation into the
Pentagon mole affair, and to answer questions that will focus, according to
sources following the case, on AIPAC's modus operandi and the type of ties
it maintains with U.S. and Israeli government officials. The four AIPAC
officials are executive director Howard Kohr, managing director Richard
Fishman, research director Rafi Danziger, and communications director Renee
Rothstein.

At the outset of the investigation this summer, American officials stressed
that the four officials are viewed as witnesses, not targets of a probe of
AIPAC officials suspected of conveying classified information to Israeli
embassy officials. The targets, as far as the lobby's activities are
concerned, are Steve Rosen and Keith Weisman, who handle foreign policy
issues for the committee.

The investigation, which is being overseen by a grand jury in Arlington,
Virginia, is taking place in secrecy. The U.S. Justice Department has
provided no information regarding its progress. But since a raid at the
beginning of this month on AIPAC offices in Washington, two major
directions have emerged in the case - one that AIPAC officials, not
Pentagon official Larry Franklin, are at the center of the investigation,
and the other, which has only been hinted, concerns the American Jewish
community's stance on the case. The community came to AIPAC's defense when
the story broke, and officially remains solidly behind the lobby. However,
in recent informal conversations, there have been signs of discomfort and
concern among community representatives. This discomfort erupted largely
after AIPAC offices were raided for a second time and subpoenas were issued
to the four officials to testify before the grand jury. AIPAC insisted to
Jewish leaders that the charges were false and an attempt to frame the
lobby, but community leaders began questioning whether they were getting
the full picture. The use of a grand jury indicates the seriousness of the
case, and increases the chances of indictments.

"If something comes out of this, indictments or anything else, for sure
there will be those who will want to distance themselves from AIPAC," one
Jewish source in Washington said yesterday. "No one wants AIPAC hurt, but
no one wants to get into trouble for something that might go wrong," he
said.