Tikun Olam (blog)

Tikun Olam (Hebrew: תקון עולם‎ tikkun olam, "repairing the world") is a Seattle-based political blog that regularly reports on Israeli security matters.^[1] According to journalist Richard Spencer, it "has a record of revealing information censored inside Israel",^[2] while journalist Ehud Yaari describes its credibility and reports as "highly doubtful".^[3] The blog was created in 2003 by Richard Silverstein and covers the Arab–Israeli conflict and Islamic–Jewish relations.

Richard Silverstein

Richard Silverstein, the blog's creator, also has created the Israel Palestine Forum, a progressive forum dedicated to discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.^[4] He has written for The Huffington Post, The Guardian, Haaretz, The Forward, the Los Angeles Times, Tikkun, Truthout, and The American Conservative.^[4][5][6]

Silverstein was born in New York in 1952,^[7] the son of a schoolteacher. Aspiring to be a Hebrew professor, he attended the Jewish Theological Seminary, earning a bachelor's degree in Hebrew literature. He also earned a BA in comparative literature from Columbia University, and studied Hebrew literature at UCLA, earning an MA.^[4] Silverstein then pursued but never completed a PhD. He worked as a fundraiser for Jewish causes, and in 1997, began working as a fundraiser for the University of Washington, but quit his job in 2003, the year his first child was born, and began blogging. He lives in Seattle with his wife, a lawyer, and their three children.^[4][8] According to his blog,^[9] Silverstein lived in Israel for two years, studying at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Reporting

Shamai Leibowitz

Shamai Leibowitz was an Israeli-American FBI specialist who translated wiretaps from Israel's Washington embassy. Because he became alarmed that Israel might be preparing a military strike against Iran, he reached out to Silverstein in 2009 and ^[10] shared the top-secret documents. The blogger published portions of them to document an Israeli campaign inside the U.S. that would heighten the likelihood of conflict with Iran.

When the federal government discovered what Leibowitz had done, it prosecuted him. He eventually accepted a plea bargain that brought a 20-month jail term. He was the first federal employee to be imprisoned for leaking to a journalist in thirty years. The New York Times ^[11] published a front page account that profiled the story.

Shin Bet and Mossad

Tikun Olam reported on the arrest of prominent Israeli Palestinian political activists Ameer Makhoul and Omar Said by the Shin Bet, who accused them of spying against Israel on behalf of Hezbollah. Neither detainee was permitted to consult an attorney for several weeks, and Makhoul contends that his alleged confession was extracted under torture. Said pleaded to a reduced charge and went free.^[12][13] Makhoul later admitted to spying for Hezbollah, as part of a plea bargain.^[14]

In 2010, the blog was reportedly the first to publish the names of the candidates for chief of Mossad and Shin Bet.^[7] The blog reported that Yitzhak Ilan was the likely candidate to succeed current Shin Bet director, Yuval Diskin.^[15][16] By law, Israeli publications are only allowed to publish the names of the Shabak and Mossad directors, but no subordinate personnel.^[15] In Israeli news reports, Ilan has been referred to as "Y."^[15] Shin Bet officials also considered Ilan the likely candidate,^[17] but eventually he lost the race to Yoram Cohen. Tikun Olam was the first media outlet to report by name that Tamir Pardo, known in the Israeli media as "T." was a candidate to replace Meir Dagan as Mossad director.^[7][18] Subsequently, Pardo was named to the top job.

According to the New York Times and +972 Magazine, Silverstein wrote in December 2010 that the Mossad had kidnapped and was holding in prison Iranian general Ali-Reza Asgari. Silverstein's assertion concerning the prisoner's identity proved wrong. The person was, in fact, Prisoner X, Ben Zygier. Silverstein then asserted that his source apparently was part of “a ruse designed to throw the media off the scent of the real story.” ^[19][20]

In 2011, Silverstein was one of the first to report that Gaza civil engineer, Dirar Abu Sisi, had been kidnapped by the Mossad in Ukraine, brought to Israel and imprisoned for allegedly being the mastermind behind Hamas' rocket program.^[7] The BBC World Service program, Assignment, produced a ^[21] radio documentary on the affair.

Anat Kamm–Uri Blau affair

The blog was the first to report that Anat Kamm, a former IDF soldier, was being secretly held by the Shin Bet for leaking secret military documents to Haaretz reporter Uri Blau. The security service had placed news of her arrest under gag so it could not be reported by Israeli media.^[22]

The "Bibi’s Secret War Plan" affair

On August 15, 2012, a Tikun Olam blog entry entitled "Bibi’s Secret War Plan"^[23] centered around a "scoop"—a document purporting to outline plans for a secret Israeli attack against Iran. The blog author claimed to have received the "secret" document from an Israel Defense Forces officer to “expose the arguments and plans advanced by the Bibi-Barak two-headed warrior”.

The blog post was picked up by several mainstream media outlets, including the BBC.

However, the supposed secret Israeli Government document was strikingly similar to an article that had been published several days earlier on the website “Fresh”.^[24] It was written by veteran Fresh contributor “Sirpad,” who clearly stated that it was “based on foreign and non-classified sources and on the author’s own imagination.”^[25][26]

Reception

Forward reporter Nathan Guttman writes that Silverstein "has become a prime address for Israelis seeking to bypass their country’s censorship or court gag orders... Some praise his work as a courageous effort to tear down walls of secrecy surrounding Israel’s security agencies" while "others accuse him of recklessness motivated by a drive to blemish Israel at all costs." The pro-Israel watchdog group CAMERA characterizes Silverstein as a "radical, anti-Israel blogger who repeatedly defends Hamas while blaming the Israeli government, and who promotes Israel as a single state of all its citizens." Silverstein responded that he believes Israel is a Jewish homeland, that he hopes to see equal rights provided for Jewish and Arab citizens in the country and though he is "agnostic" toward the two-state solution, would ultimately prefer that outcome.^[27]

Silverstein is also criticized for his journalistic practices. Yossi Melman, a veteran security and intelligence reporter for Haaretz argues that Silverstein "spreads rumors without checking them" and "is an ideologue, not a journalist." He adds, "[Silverstein] is speculative. It is like at the casino: Sometimes he gets it right, and sometimes he doesn’t."^[15][27] Nonetheless, Melman writes that "Silverstein’s blog is important because he exposes the security services and the courts in all their nakedness. They use the instruments of the 20th century to protect secrets which aren’t really secrets in the age of 21st century technology."^[15]

According to Der Spiegel, "The blogger who lives in the United States is considered to be very well informed when it comes to Israeli security matters. His blog "Tikun Olam" regularly exposes stories which cannot be published in Israel due to military censorship. For example, Silverstein was the first to publish the names of new candidates for the senior posts at the Israeli domestic and external security services."^[28]

References

External links

• Tikun Olam
• Lital Grosman, בקרוב במרתפי השב״כ (Coming Soon to Shabak's Dungeons) (in Hebrew), August 6, 2010, City Magazine (Tel Aviv) (English translation)
• Jonathan Martin, Influential Seattle blogger inflames left and right alike about Israeli security issues, September 12, 2011, The Seattle Times.
• Tal Schneider, ריצ'ארד סילברסטיין - האיש שידע יותר מידי (Richard Silverstein – The Man Who Knew Too Much) (in Hebrew), January 6, 2012, Maariv