Screenshot of original Hebrew version of Israeli government briefing document on Iran attack
UPDATE: My source has permitted me to publish the entire original Hebrew document, which you read here. The English translation is in yesterday’s post:
When one publishes an important leaked Israeli government documentas I have done, one has to expect a counter-attack from the hasbarafia. And it has come. I’m going to share a few words on the background of the document and address some of the scurrilous charges raised about this matter. Then I’m not going to address it again nor publish any further comments on it.
About a week ago, I received the document from a known and trusted source who is, as I’ve often said here, a former Israeli government minister. It was in turn leaked to him by an IDF officer.
Unbeknowst to my source, the original IDF leaker also gave the document to a member of the Fresh forum, an Israeli gossip and politics forum. That Fresh member wrote a largely fictional accountthat included very limited portions of the actual document which I published in full.
Contrary to claims made by many in the hasbarafia at sites like Harry’s Place and CIF Watch, anyone who actually reads the Fresh post and compares it to what I translated & published would see that there is very little overlap. Of the entire 500 word (in English translation) document, perhaps 100 words are in the Fresh post, which itself is quite long, probably over 1,000 words (I haven’t checked).
The truth is that I had the document for about four days, but didn’t publish it because I was negotiating with several media outlets about reporting it and also vetting it with several national security experts to ascertain its authenticity. As opposed to what I did, the Fresh member merely created a pastiche of the original and his own feverish imaginings.
As a journalist, you always wish to have exclusive use of leaked documents but you can’t control what a source does with materials he gives to you. I have opinions about the leak to Fresh, but there’s nothing I can do about that. I can only control my own actions and behavior, behind which I stand 100%.
I had nothing to do with anything published in Fresh and never visit the site. In fact, when I once attempted to publish a piece of news that was gagged I was banned there and have never returned since. Personally, I have posted in the past at Rotter, whose politics are even more right-wing than Fresh. The attacks against me at both sites have been vehement. But Rotter never banned me despite those disagreements. As far as I’m concerned Fresh is even worse and more reprehensible than Rotter. This incident only further confirms that.
Frankly, I do not care what the hasbarafia thinks about me. What matters most is whether or not Israel begins a disastrous war against Iran. I received this document because my source and I both oppose the oncoming war (though I disagree with my source about a number of other things concerning Israel’s policy toward Iran). The goal was to expose a real document representing the real views of the real leaders who will take Israel to war.
I received this document under precisely the circumstances I described above. If the hasbarafia were honorable, which is a contradiction in terms, it would compare word for word my translation with the Fresh posting and concede that they are entirely different pieces of writing with the exception of a very small portion. Rather the goal of the hasbarafia is to kill the messenger because you don’t like the message. Their mission is to conduct scurrilous attacks on my honesty and professionalism because that will undo some of the damage caused by the leak. It won’t work, but let them try. They’ll waste their energy when they could be using it to do even more damage to Israel’s interests in some other enterprise.
Because I care about whether Israel attacks Iran, I published this document. My mission is focused on preventing a disastrous war. One way of doing this was to publish this document. If it has raised a debate inside Israel and in the international media on the issues, all to the good.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, no one from the Israeli government has come forward to deny the authenticity of the document. Ehud Barak was invited to speak on the BBC Newshour segment which first reported on the story and he refused. MK Danny Danon was interviewed by the BBC and he never doubted its authenticity. In none of the coverage I’ve read (and here) in the Israeli media has any government official denied it. As far as I’m concerned, that seals the deal.
As for the hasbarafia, they can say what they want, but their lies will reflect on them, not on me.
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