Informant: Meir Kahane Planned Biological Terror Attack On USSR

INTELWIRE has obtained approximately 2,000 pages of FBI records concerning radical Jewish leader Meir Kahane. This is the second in an ongoing series of releases, published in chronological order. Due to the large number of documents for 1971, they will be posted in three parts.

Click here for an introduction to this series, and documents from 1970

There are some fascinating documents in this installment.

In a January 18, 1971 teletype, an informant provided a detailed look at the inner workings of the JDL. Among the items he disclosed: Kahane was allegedly pursuing a plan to unleash a terrorist attack against the Soviet Union using biological weapons.

"Kahane has seriously discussed capturing a Soviet city. His (illegible) intent is to secure germs of a virulent disease from a hospital or bacteriologist, grow a sufficient amount of these germs, and then smuggle them to a Soviet city. He will then threaten to contaminate the city unless the Soviet (sic) allow Jews to emigrate to Israel. Source advised that the problem of securing the germs and growing them is relatively simple for any bacteriologist. However, the details of getting them to the Soviet Union have not been worked out."

Another document (page 239) presages the sort of complications the FBI would encounter during the 1990s in dealing with Islamic terrorism. An FBI source within the JDL requested that FBI agents train him in the use of explosives.

According to the letterhead memorandum, "the source was advised that the FBI could in no way indoctrinate him relative to explosives. He was also informed that he should in no way instigate conversations or activities which would in any way involve entrapment regarding any activity involving explosives on the part of JDL members."

During the World Trade Center bombing, defense attorneys tried (unsuccessfully) to argue that the FBI's informant in the case, Emad Salem, had entrapped the participants in the conspiracy and provided them with explosives expertise they wouldn't have had otherwise.

While Salem appears to have done no such thing, FBI informant Ali Mohamed did train the conspirators in various paramilitary tactics. Naval Intelligence informant Garrett Wilson also provided paramilitary training and sold weapons to the cell.

I've highlighted a few more interesting notes in the PDF. Much of the current file deals with Kahane's 1970-1971 trip to Israel and persons he met with there, as well as Kahane's efforts to secure a meeting with the Secretary of State William Rogers (by threatening to disrupt the Soviet Mission to the UN until Rogers agreed to the meeting). The documents have been heavily redacted by the FBI.

If anyone spots something particularly noteworthy that hasn't been covered in the previous literature on Kahane, please feel free to drop me a line. Page numbering continues from the first installment.

Meir Kahane FBI Records, 1971 Part One

Page 121: Kahane travels to Israe; an "unknown individual" remains in Israel "obtaining information for Kahane."

Page 127: Kahane and others arrested during a demonstration at the Soviet Mission to the UN.

Page 150: Kahane seeks meeting with Secretary of State; State Department refuses to meet with him, but he says he will go there anyway.

Page 230: Memo to White House, Henry Kissinger, Secretary of State and Attorney General concerning a Kahane appearance. It's interesting to see the intense interest in Kahane's activities across a broad spectrum of government agencies.

Page 264: Kahane threatens to bomb the Soviet embassy.

Kahane FBI Files, 1970

Labels: INTELFILES, Meir-Kahane

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Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

FBI Surveillance of Meir Kahane

INTELWIRE has obtained approximately 2,000 pages of FBI records concerning radical Jewish leader Meir Kahane. The documents will be published in installments over the next several weeks, broken down by the year covered in the records.

A Brooklyn native, Kahane was the founder of the Jewish Defense League. Kahane, who spent time in prison for terroristic activities, eventually moved to Israel. He was assassinated in 1990 by El Sayyid Nosair, an Egyptian who was later linked to the World Trade Center bombing.

The Anti-Defamation League says "Kahane consistently preached a radical form of Jewish nationalism which reflected racism, violence and political extremism." The FBI records illustrate these points. Later installments touch on Kahane's contact with elements in the Mafia.

The sheer amount of coverage devoted to Kahane is remarkable. The FBI followed Kahane's movements in minute detail for at least 10 years, as documented in the FOIA records. The first installment appears below. I've highlighted a few of the more interesting notes in the PDF.

If anyone spots something particularly noteworthy that hasn't been covered in the previous literature on Kahane, please feel free to drop me a line.

Meir Kahane FBI Records, 1970

Page 8: J. Edgar Hoover chastizes New York Field Office for failing to penetrate the Jewish Defense League (JDL).

Page 22: Domestic intelligence investigation of JDL finds "participation by its members in attempted hijacking of international air flights and stockpiling of weapons and explosives purchased by the JDL obstensibly for training purposes at its summer camp in upstate New York."

Page 33: Description of FBI interview of Kahane on Sept. 18, 1969.

Page 37: FBI interview with Kahane on Sept. 29, 1970. Kahane agrees to provide information to the FBI on various people associated with the JDL.

Page 47: As of October 1970, there were 134 open cases connected to the JDL.

Page 54: According to a source who attended a Kahane speech in Williamstown, Massachusetts, "Kahane mentioned that the Jews in New York City had been assaulted and attacked by Negro mobs. Rabbi Kahane stated that the cause of this trouble was in connection with the death of a Negro child caused by a truck driver who was a Jew. He stated that the Negroes moved in on the Jews, and it was necessary for the Jews to organize and fight the Negroes back. He stated that when the Jews organized and fought back, the Negroes stopped their harassment of the Jews in New York City."

Page 69: During an appearance in Chicago, Kahane "delivered what [a source] called a 'recruiting speech.' He asked for all possible aid to help Soviet Jews and said that 'Violence is always bad, but sometimes necessary.' After Kahane's speech, a karate demonstration was held."

Page 77: Kahane's U.S. arrest record as of June 1970.

Page 78: Source says the JDL is planning a sit-in at the home of Leonard Bernstein, because of Bernstein's past meeting with members of the Black Panther Party.

Page 105: JDL members have been receiving training from members of the National Rifle Association.

Labels: Meir-Kahane, Weblog

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

Eyewitness Accounts: The 1990 Shooting of Meir Kahane

The FBI has declassified and released FD-302 transcripts related to the assassination of Jewish radical rabbi Meir Kahane in 1990, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by INTELWIRE. Although the attack was ruled a lone gunman assault at the time, assassin El Sayyid Nosair was lated convicted of taking part in a wider conspiracy to commit terrorist attacks in New York City under the leadership of "blind sheikh" Omar Abdel Rahman. The FBI interviewed several eyewitnesses and two supporters of Nosair, none of whom were identified. Some reports indicated Nosair has attended previous speeches by Kahane. There were several reports of Nosair talking with unidentified individuals and with people attending the lecture, however none of the witnesses reporting seeing Nosair fire the shots that killed Kahane. Despite the fact that the shooting took place in a crowded room, not a single witness at Nosair's trial reported seeing him fire the killing shots, which resulted in his acquittal on a murder charge. Nosair was convicted of other firearms violations in relation with the attack and sentenced to a lengthy prison term.

Read the documents

Labels: El-Sayyid-Nosair, Meir-Kahane, Weblog

Views expressed on INTELWIRE are those of the author alone.

Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink