Boustany, Nora, and
Brian Duffy. "Israel's Secret American Friend: The FBI Is Looking into
Whether a High-Ranking U.S. Official Passed Along Sensitive Information."
Washington Post National Weekly Edition, 12 May 1997, 16. Boustany, Nora, and
Brian Duffy. "Israel's Secret American Friend: The FBI Is Looking into
Whether a High-Ranking U.S. Official Passed Along Sensitive Information."
Washington Post National Weekly Edition, 12 May 1997, 16.
The FBI began an investigation in January 1997 into whether a U.S. official is passing classified information to Israel. The effort began after NSA intercepted a secure telephone conversation between a Mossad officer in Washington and his superior in Tel Aviv. That conversation referred to someone code-named "Mega." It was suggested that "Mega" might be able to obtain a sensitive U.S. document.
Gellman, Barton. "Senior Israeli Officials Strongly Deny Reports of 'Mole' in U.S. Government." Washington Post, 8 May 1997, A20.
Thomas, Gordon. Gideon's Spies: The Secret History of the Mossad. New York: St. Martin's, 1999. London: Macmillan, 1999.
Travis, New York Post, 4 Mar. 1999, reports that this work charges that "Israel blackmailed President Clinton with phone-tapped tapes of his steamy sex talks with Monica Lewinsky.... The price Clinton paid for the silence of the Mossad spy agency was calling off an FBI hunt for a top-level Israeli mole ["Mega"] ... who was, and could still be, deep within the White House." Gurdon and Davies, Telegraph (London), 4 Mar. 1999, and Sammon and Gertz, Washington Times National Weekly Edition, 8-14 Mar. 1999, also report this aspect of Thomas' book.
The reviewer for Publisher's Weekly, 22 Feb. 99, believes that "[a]stute readers ... will question whether" the author's "unnamed informants have given the straight scoop.... Thomas writes with the pulpy charm familiar to readers of Englsh tabloids; however, his use of unnamed sources and his reliance on conjecture will leave readers intrigued but determined to reserve judgment."
Foster, Contemporary Review, Nov. 1999, comments that "[d]espite its pace and sensational Sunday-paper readability, [Thomas'] book covers the ground thoroughly and generally accurately." However, the author "[o]ccasionally ... gives way to temptations which he should have resisted," as in speculating about Mossad's role in the death of the Princess of Wales. Commenting on the 6th edition, Peake, Studies 57.1 (Mar. 2013), says that the "trademark" of the author's books is that "they are well written, badly documented, and packed with errors." This one is no different. "The work is entertaining but not reliable."
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