In an Al Jazeera interview conducted in Arabic, Julian Assange has revealed that it will take Wikileaks six months to release documents on Israel. This is confirmed by a post on the WL Central blog. Here’s a translation of the Al Jazeera story accompanying the interview provided to me by a fluent friend:
“The founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange denied what was recently circulated about a secret deal that he might have made with israel in return for not publishing anything about it in the series of the leaked American diplomatic documents that his website publishes.
Assange said Wednesday evening in “Without Limits” on Al-Jazeera that he didn’t make any deal with israel and revealed that his site would publish hundreds of documents relating to israel in the coming months. He stated that he has 3700 documents and 2700 of these documents originated from israel alone.
He added, “we did not have direct or indirect contact with the israelis, but the israeli intelligence (mossad) and other intelligence agencies are following us and attempt to predict what we will do. And I’m sure that the israeli intelligence is interested in us, but it did not contact us. It might have contacted individuals that used to work for our organization, but at the moment, there are no communications between them [israeli intelligence] and us.
He added that what was published about israel represents 1% or 2% of the documents concerning israel. But he stated that international newspapers that he made a deal with to publish the documents chose what they wanted to publish based on their interest in them. He said that that reflects the “bias” of some of these newspaper and that his site would publish all the documents it has and are related to israel.
Assange revealed that there are sensitive and classified documents that deal with israel’s war on Lebanon in 2006. Others deal with the assassination of Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh in Dubai and the diplomatic telegrams regarding the passports used by the mossad in the operation.
He said that there is an important telegram about Hizb Allah’s telecommunications’ network that mentions fiber lines and that one of these lines passed by the French embassy in Beirut. He added that this matter “worries Washington because control of telecommunications is important.”
He stated that the secret classified documents include mention of the mossad, and high ranking communications regarding the assassination of a Syrian official by a sniper. He said that the publication of the documents relating to israel and some Arab states will continue for six months.”
The Al Jazeera interview transcript and video in Arabic with Julian Assange is here.
The Peninsula’s transcript of the interview includes:
“There are 3,700 files related to Israel and the source of 2,700 files is Israel. In the next six months we intend to publish more files depending on our sources,” said Assange in the nearly one-hour interview telecast live from the UK.
Q: An Arabic newspaper called Al Haqeeqa [“the Truth”] conducted an interview with one of your former colleagues who said you have a deal with Israel not to publish these secret files.
A: This is not true. We have been accused as agents of Iran and CIA by this former colleague who was working for Germany in the past and was dismissed from his job after we published American military documents related to Germany.
We were the biggest institution receiving official funding from the US but after we released a video tape about killing people in cold blood in Iraq in 2007, the funding stopped and we had to depend on individuals for finance.
Q: When will you publish the files related to Israel on your website?
A: We will publish 3700 files and the source is the American embassy in Tel Aviv. Prime Minister Netanyahu was traveling to Paris to talk to the US ambassador there. You will see more information about that in six months.
Q: Do these Israeli files speak about the July 2006 Israeli war against Lebanon?
A: Yes there is some information about that and these files were classified as top secret.
Q: Is there any relation with these files and the assassination of Hamas military leader Al Mabhoh in Dubai?
A: Yes there are some indication to this and may be some special reports published by newspapers. Mossad agents used Australian, British and European passports to travel to Dubai and there are diplomatic files about that.
Q: Are there any security service companies providing information to international airports and monitoring passengers even in the Arab countries?
A: There are some files about American and Israeli security companies that tried to intervene in certain areas. For example, in Brazil, the American embassy put some Israeli security companies during the Olympic Games.
Q: Are there any files about agencies providing intelligence information about famous personalities in the Arab world?
A: I am not sure about that but there are files about Hezbollah in Lebanon. In one of these files Lebanon government complained against cables passing near the French embassy. American are always very much worried about the telecommunications network.
Q: Are there any files about Israeli agents in the Arab world including some Arab royal palaces.
A: Most of the files related to Mossad are classified as top secret but there may be some files related to the role of Mossad in killing Lebanese military leader in Damascus by sniper bullets.
There 2,500 files related to Mossad and I have read only 1000. So I don’t know about everythiong, I need more journalists including Arabs to read and analyse and put everything in the context for the benefit of the readers.
We have 17,000 files where the word Qatar has been mentioned, the source of 3,000 of these files is the American embassy in Doha.
Q: What is the most interesting file about Qatar that was not published?
A: There is a lot to be read. The name of Waddah Khanfar has been mentioned in 504 files. Some of these files have been published by The Guardian.
Q: How do the Americans view Al Jazeera in these files?
A: There were some meetings between people from Al Jazeera and the US embassy where the latter suggested coverage of certain things in a certain way.
There are files about a TV channel in Dubai which the Americans said can be used against Al Jazeera and when this channel tried to move in the American direction, people stopped watching it.
The Americans despite having a base here were angry about the presence of an Iranian bank in Qatar but Qatar said it would not close it but would not open new banks. Despite that this bank established many more branches in Doha. Qatar is trying to create a balance between the Arab world and the America.
The Americans appreciate having their largest base in Doha but Qatar does not agree with all American requirements and Al Jazeera is a good example for that.
Ex-Wikileaks associate, Daniel Domscheit-Berg also has denied the rumours of Assange dealing with Israel.
I have been notified about the general rumour a few weeks ago, and shortly after about the appearance of me as involved in those allegations. I have never spoken to anyone at syriatruth or that reporter that is making these claims, nor do I know anything about any deals JA has allegedly made with Israelis.
Given what is appearing in the Scandinavian area with the involvement of Shamir and Wahlstrom I wouldn’t actually expect that to happen either. In any case, this latter statement is just my personal judgement.
I once received a test mail from a , and then a followup regarding OpenLeaks questions. A contact request to him after hearing of the allegations was not replied to.
In the last week or so I have been contacted by Israeli TV about this, as well as French Le Point today. Those are the only media outfits so far that seem to have taken interest. Other than that it seems to be mainly spreading via weird Russian and religious forums, at least from as much as I am aware of.
As I read somewhere that this alleged reporter I allegedly talked to works for Hareetz, I have asked the folks from Israeli TV if they could help find out who that is, and how to contact her. They replied that there doesn’t seem to be anyone by that name. So obviously, which was my gut feeling also, that person does not exist. Why that rumour is circulated, I dont know. I have my feelings about that and think we should give it some more time to uncover itself.
Some more comment on the situation here.
As the entire Wikileaks cables are now in the mitts of Norway’s largest newspaper, Aftenposten, ‘without the consent of Julian Assange’, will the Tel Aviv cables come to light much sooner than expected?
The US Ambassador to Australia, Jeff Bleich, noted by Australian Jewish News as active in the American Jewish Committee and B’nai B’rith ADL and who has previously assured the Capital Jewish Forum (CJF) in Canberra that President Barack Obama was committed to protecting Israel from Iran’s nuclear ambitions, is published in The Age today, patronisingly and vapidly arguing against government transparency and Wikileaks. A pleasant counter-balance to the US ambassador’s mendacity is provided by former Australian intelligence analyst Paul Barratt on Inside Story:
More disturbingly, the cables reveal that behind closed doors our political leaders deal incautiously with representatives of the United States and Israel. They seem to forget that they are dealing with the representatives of a foreign country, in a game that is definitely reserved for grown-ups, the world of navigating our country through the shoals of major international events. They make such forthright and absolute declarations of support that they leave hostages to fortune, giving themselves little room to negotiate on issues arising in the future on the basis of a hard-nosed assessment of where Australia’s national interest lies. Indeed, at times they give the impression they would struggle to see the difference between Australia’s national interests and those of the United States or Israel.
Despite vehement protestations by Netanyahu to the contrary, Wikileaks cables (and Netanyahu’s public admonitions), have shown Israel consistently conflates peace with Palestinians with its existential fear of Iran as number one threat, emphasising an interminable, nebulous and largely self-created security problem which inflates a deliberately marketed victimhood which the US is expected to ease and pander to at all times. In turn, this mechanism provides US military industrial plutocrats, Middle Eastern dictators and other ruling class mavens with plausible deniability for exploitation of the world’s richest sources of energy, at the expense of ordinary people of the region, negating an equitable outcome for rightsless Palestinians that would truly be in the interests of everyone’s security except those who profit from their oppression.
UPDATE
News of an unreleased cable appears in Ynet on Israel’s bombing of a supposed Syrian nuclear reactor from Yedioth Ahronoth’s Ronen Bergman. This release follows a Guardian interview with Julian Assange:
WikiLeaks now plans to begin sharing the cables with a wider group of regional news organisations. Julian Assange says all future cables released by WikiLeaks will either be redacted by other partner news organisations, or by WikiLeaks itself. The Guardian and its partners in the project, the New York Times, Der Spiegel, El Pais and Le Monde, will continue to share redactions with WikiLeaks for any cables they publish in future.
Assange also refers to Israel Shamir, notorious anti-semite afficionado “Belarus is a shining lamp of socialism” of the brutal Lukashenko regime in Belarus.
Assange defended one of WikiLeaks’ collaborators, Israel Shamir, following claims Shamir passed sensitive cables to Belarus’s dictator, Alexander Lukashenko. Lukashenko has arrested 600 opposition supporters and journalists since Sunday’s presidential election. The whereabouts and fate of several of the president’s high-profile opponents are unknown.
Of Shamir, Assange said: “WikiLeaks works with hundreds of journalists from different regions of the world. All are required to sign non-disclosure agreements and are generally only given limited review access to material relating to their region. We have no reason to believe these rumours in relation to Belarus are true.”
Over the past month the Guardian has published more than 200 articles based on the trove of US diplomatic dispatches obtained by WikiLeaks, and 739 of the cables themselves. All cables published by the Guardian and the four other international news organisations who had exclusive early access to the material have been carefully redacted to protect sources who could be placed in danger, and the redacted versions have been passed to WikiLeaks.
It’s annoying that the Guardian didn’t ask Assange how the Norwegian paper Aftenposten received the entire trove of documents, because I would like to know whether my suspicions are correct.
Swedish Radio, Medierna, discovered last week that Shamir’s son, Johannes Wahlström ‘is the gatekeeper of the cables in Scandinavia, and “has the power to decide” which newspapers are provided access and what leaks they are allowed to see’.
Palestine / Israel Links
How Scottish Zionist Ephraim Borowski tried to browbeat Positive Action in Housing, a Glasgow Charity dedicated to Supporting Asylum Seekers
Cast Lead two year anniversary [update]
The Palestinians have rights too
The Delusions Of The Peace Process
Why Do Jewish Organizations Ignore Glenn Beck?
UN urges Israeli ‘restraint’, condemns projectiles
2010-12-23 Al Jazeera Interview: Wikileaks to release Israel documents in six months
Ameer Makhoul’s perpetual trial
New Gaza war ‘a question of when, not if’
IDF general uses 1945 law to bar East J’lem resident from capital
The Israeli mainstream and European far-right fascists. A natural fit?
Racism has reared its head, and the public is apathetic
‘WikiLeaks to publish Israel files on Second Lebanon War, Dubai assassination’
Daniel Domscheit-Berg Denies Rumor of Assange-Israeli Deals
Arab tenants forced to leave Tel Aviv home due to threats
Another Christmas under siege
Christmas trees ‘provocative:’ Nazareth suburb’s mayor
Western media reluctant to publish WikiLeaks cables about Israel
Haaretz journalist doubles as anti-“delegitimization” operative
Netanyahu: World starting to understand that Israel is not obstacle to Mideast peace – blames Iran and attempts to throw the scent from Israel’s oppression of Palestinians
PSC West London: Report from Inside Zionist Conference on the ‘De-Legitimisation’ of Israel
Useful Timeline of Laws of Palestinian Residency in Jerusalem – 1967 until today
The smoking cable: Israel said it had ’secret accord’ with U.S. over expanding settlements even as Obama said in Cairo they must stop!
Wikilinks
Assange interview in arabic on Al Jazeera
Assange promises info on Mabhouh, Lebanon War – Ynet says “the assassination of a Syrian official by a sniper
‘Cables to be released on Israel, Lebanon, Mabhouh’ – Jpost quotes the Peninsula and says a Lebanese military leader was assassinated in Damascus”
‘WikiLeaks to publish Israel cables on Second Lebanon War, Dubai assassination’
Newspaper gets WikiLeaks cables – A NORWEGIAN newspaper has gotten hold of the entire file of US cables first leaked to WikiLeaks. (No prizes for guessing/knowing how this happened.)
Julian Assange On Al Jazeera For the Second time
Wikileaks: Mossad Sells U.S. on Iran Regime Change Plan
NYT worked ‘several weeks’ on leaked cables; WikiLeaks wasn’t direct source for docs which contradicts what the NY Times says, to wit:
The New York Times, the British newspaper The Guardian, the German magazine Der Spiegel and the French newspaper Le Monde were given access to the material in June, on the condition that the contents not be made public until now.
NZ accused of Israel ‘flap’ to boost Arab trade
The PATRIOT Act, Bradley Manning and Julian Assange – Predicting Torture
Norwegian newspaper should WikiLeaks documents received {German tr]
WikiLeaks Joins Forces With Lebedev’s Moscow-Based Newspaper Novaya Gazeta
– Novaya Gazeta received unlimited access to the WikiLeaks database, which has a “wide range” of materials, including documents about Politkovskaya’s murder as well as information about Russian politicians’ ties to organized crime, Nadezhda Prusenkova, a Novaya Gazeta spokeswoman, said by phone from Moscow. The newspaper will start releasing materials next month.
Russian Newspaper Joins Forces With WikiLeaks
The lies of the smear campaign against #wikileaks & Assange exposed.
Wikileaks’ Leaks Leaked: Norwegian Paper Has All the Cables and None of the Restrictions
Wikileaks’ Big Leak Is Leaked – Aftenposten says the leak occurred “without the consent of Wikileaks director Julian Assange.”
Aftenposten has gained access to 250,000 new Wikileaks documents. News Editor Erik Ole Almlid said the newspaper could use the documents without conditions.
Fidelis Snags Anti-WikiLeaks Contracts
Apple removes iPhone Wikileaks app from iTunes
NZ accused of Israel ‘flap’ to boost Arab trade
2010-12-23 Al Jazeera Interview: Wikileaks to release Israel documents in six months
The Assange case – what it means for socialists
David Frost interviews Julian Assange
UN to investigate treatment of jailed leaks suspect Bradley Manning
WikiLeaks cables reveal commercial motivations behind New Zealand troop deployment to Iraq
Exclusive Julian Assange Interview With Cenk Uygur (12/22/10)
The Blast Shack – Bruce Sterling on Wikileaks.
Developer of banned WikiLeaks App to donate $1 from each download to WikiLeaks
UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression and Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression Joint Statement On Wikileaks
Bank Of America Outdoes Itself When It Comes To Wrongfully Breaking Into People’s Homes, Stealing Items Of Sentimental Value
Three-Strikes “Typhoid Mary” Identified Via Wikileaks
WikiLeaks cables: US intervened in Michael Moore NZ screening
US complicit in India’s systematic use of torture in Kashmir
Wikileaks Mirror Network
Jakarta accused over Papua
Bradley Manning Speaks About His Conditions
CENK UYGUR : My Exclusive Interview with WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange
Australian Wikilinks
Media union waives Assange’s fees
Aussies against pro-Wikileaks DDoS
What the WikiLeaks cables reveal about Australia’s leaders
Other Links
How 2010 revealed Labor’s hollow core
FBI Expands Probe into Antiwar Activists