Intel Council Head Draws Ire of Israel Lobby

Intel Council Head Draws Ire of Israel Lobby

Daniel Luban and Jim Lobe*

WASHINGTON, Mar 4 (IPS) - The appointment of a top-ranking retired diplomat and vocal critic of Israel to a key intelligence post has triggered an intense backlash from hawkish Israel supporters in Congress and the media who are pressing the administration of President Barack Obama to reconsider.
Critics have seized upon retired Amb. Charles "Chas" Freeman’s ties to Saudi Arabia and views on human rights in China to argue against his appointment as chairman of the National Intelligence Council (NIC), but Freeman’s defenders charge that their real aim is to impose an ideological litmus test on top government officials and ensure a continued policy of reflexive U.S. support for Israel.

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The NIC is the U.S. intelligence community's (IC) centre for mid- and long-term strategic thinking and analysis on a range of issues facing the United States. Among other responsibilities, it produces National Intelligence Estimates (NIEs) - the consensus judgments of all 16 intelligence agencies - regarding the likely course of future events.

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The campaign against Freeman began shortly after rumours of his appointment surfaced two weeks ago. It was initially confined to neo-conservative media organs such as the Weekly Standard and Commentary magazines, as well as liberal but hawkishly pro-Israel figures such as Martin Peretz, editor of The New Republic.

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The campaign gained a much higher profile this week when the ranking Republican and former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Peter Hoekstra, called on the administration to withdraw Freeman's appointment in an interview with the Wall Street Journal whose neo-conservative editorial page had already denounced the appointment, and a New York Democrat, Rep. Stephen Israel, urged an investigation of his ties to Saudi Arabia.

Ten other members of Congress made a similar demand in a letter addressed to the DNI's inspector-general Tuesday.

Four of the signatories - Republican Rep. Mark Kirk and Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley, as well as the top two Republicans in the House of Representatives, Minority Leader John Boehner and Minority Whip Eric Cantor - were among the five top recipients in the House of campaign contributions from pro-Israel political action committees (PACs) closely tied to AIPAC during the 2007-8 election cycle, according to figures compiled by the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. Kirk himself has been the House's top recipient of Israel-related PAC money over the past decade, according to the Report.

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