Was The Perfect Spy A Double Agent?

60 Minutes: Was Ashraf Marwan Israel's Greatest Spy Or Was He A Double Agent?

(CBS)  The Mossad's codename for Marwan was "The Angel," and between 1969 and 1973 he provided the Israelis with reams of secret Egyptian documents. There were transcripts of meetings between President Sadat and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, records of their arms deals, and perhaps most important, detailed Egyptian war plans for recapturing the Sinai Peninsula.

"When Marwan spoke, the highest leaders in Israel within a matter of hours got the transcripts of what he spoke. Golda Meir read them, Moshe Dayan read them. The army chief of staff read them. And this is how they formed their opinions," author Howard Blum explained.

"We were very, very sensitive and aware about early warning of an enemy attack on Israel. From the first day, this was rule number one," Levran told Kroft.

"And you relied on Marwan to give it to you?" Kroft asked.

"Of course," Levran said.

According to the Egyptians, it was Israel's reliance on Marwan to warn them of an impending attack that allowed their army and the Syrians to amass hundreds of thousands of troops on Israel's borders in the fall of 1973, under the guise of a training exercise. In fact, the Yom Kippur War was about to begin, and the Israelis had heard nothing from Marwan.

"Who was Ashraf Marwan working for?" Kroft asked Dr. Abdel Monem Said, one of Egypt's top national security experts.

"He was officially working for the president of Egypt. But also, he was working for the security establishment of Egypt as well," Said told Kroft.

Dr. Said said it was all part of the plan.

Said told Kroft Marwan didn't work for the Israelis. "Not whatsoever," he said.

Egyptian officials refused to talk to 60 Minutes about Marwan on camera because the information is still secret.

But a number of people directed us to Said for the Egyptian side of the story, which is that Israel's greatest spy was actually a double agent.

"Top Israelis told us 'Marwan gave us the best information we have ever gotten from anyone,'" Kroft told Said.

"How you build the confidence in one of the best intelligence services in the world? You give them best information that serve your purpose," he replied.

The Egyptians' purpose was to recapture the Suez Canal and all or part of the 23,000 square miles of the Sinai Peninsula occupied by the Israelis. To do it, they needed to deceive their enemy at a crucial moment, and according to Dr. Said, Marwan was the key element in that deception.

"The Israeli know that there was Egyptians and Syrians on the ground mobilizing their forces. These forces were already in the front. They are taking offensive positions," Said explained. "It's a classic case in the books. You got all the information, but you make the wrong interpretation. And the only variable that is different was Ashraf Marwan."

"We were subjugated to this source, and we put aside information from the observation posts we were dependent on him to give us the last verdict. The last confirmation," Aharon Levran told Kroft.

Marwan finally provided that confirmation at a late-night meeting in London with the head of Mossad, just 12 hours before the fighting began. The Syrians and the Egyptians would attack on two fronts, he said, at 6 p.m. the following day, the holiest day on the Jewish year. The Israelis were totally unprepared. Most of their soldiers were already home with their families.

[eyemdope]

GDW666,

"He did? I thought it was Navy snipers. How much credit goes to he who says "go ahead". How much thought does that take?"

A lot of credit. By trivializing the decision, you appear rather ignorant of history with regard to leaders in crisis and how they respond being what defines them as great or poor leaders. There decision involved risks and you don't even acknowledge that had anything happened to the captain Obama would be the first to be blamed by types like you that are now hypocritically claiming his decision was a 'no brainer' and him not worthy of credit. Hindsight is always 20/20, and there were multiple options on the table for a successful rescue. He could have done what Sarkozy did, and negotiate a ransom, and after the hostages are returned to safety the pirates pursued and gunned down, and the ransom money retrieved. Carter was roundly blamed for the 444 days American embassy workers spent as hostages even though he eventually negotiated their release. He was blamed for the failed special forces mission even though its failure had nothing to do with him. Your claim that Obama deserves no credit for taking a tough stance against the pirates when such a choice is not obvious, especially if there was a more liberal president in charge, only reveals how disingenuous you're being.



"You mean release of a journalist that was subject of a show trial."

Yes, exactly that. Show trials result in successful conviction and subsequent punishment. She was released on appeal.

"Where was he when she was falsely arrested and then convicted?"

Are you really that ignorant of the details of what happened? It was only after her conviction when SoS Clinton expressed her displeasure and the Obama diplomats protested vigorously through back channels did Ahmadinejad intervene by writing a letter to the juror and requesting a fair and open appeals process be granted. Your questions reveal an ignorance that comes in spades. What do you mean where was he when the trial was happening? If you had read up on what had happened, the Iranian judiciary had good reason to believe that she was a spy, which is why the previous poster labeled her as such. But of course you remain ignorant of such details. As has already been reported widely, the lawyer that represented her in Iranian court revealed she was found in possession of a classified document detailing the plans for the invasion of Iraq by the US, prepared by a research agency for then president Khatami. She was also in possession of papers from the Iranian conservative political party and had made multiple trips to Israel. So Iranian officials had concrete reasons to believe she was involved in espionage. She also admitted under questioning that she had been approached by the CIA to work
for them but did not take it seriously. So whether she was a spy or not was debatable, but your claim that she absolutely was not is based on your own lack of knowledge on the incident. And questioning where Obama was in the first place when she was arrested, I'll help you out there as well. She was arrested in January before Obama was inaugurated. The dull limits of your knowledge is quite telling.

"Why? Did he work without his teleprompter?"

Once again, the constituents that represent the toothless party out of power on all levels of government rears its ugly jealous head because they've never had such a charismatic leader with such natural talent for oratory. FYI, every president such the teleprompter was made has used it. So why is it that GOP presidents have such difficulty using such a simple device? Of course you're threatened because Obama is proving to be a far better communicator than the supposed 'great communicator' himself, Reagan in case you didn't know. Plus, the oratorical skills of Obama and Clinton put that of the bush duo to utter shame. Why can't republicans learn how to use a teleprompter?

[mjlewis6]

This is a contract disposal by a third party to eliminate any further damage.

Whatever was possible to be written, has been stymied. Marwan played
both sides to insure his viability and his lifestyle. THAT alone is motive
sufficient for a Third Party to eliminate him as a possible player in a larger
negotiated/posturing situation in the MIddle East....Syrians, Saudis, or
even another of the General's Group in Israel may have taken him out.

The biggest clues are in the walls and nearby apartments to Marwan's
to have seen his writing or know what he was doing....A fall is pretty
convenient, regardless of which group is involved, but sensitive enough
to have acted with the goal of making it an accident.

[ibsteve2u]

That is one of the perks of being a double-agent: Unless you are caught by and returned to the nation you are betraying so that the appropriate pounds of flesh can be extracted in public revenge, "national pride" - that thing that so many claim is sufficient reason alone for war - will ensure that your betrayal is kept secret.

[antoniof123]

Looks to me like he made a lot of money off the two of them.

Morons they keep fighting only to bring death to their children.

They had better hope their children never wake up.

[edward1975-2009]

Seems to me he had two idiot nations as clients.

[gdw666]

"It's now common knowledge that the US has often used Murder Squads even Dick Cheney had a Assassniation Squad during the 8 years of the US crime wave to silent those who would tell the truth."

Then we can assume that you have a reference to this "common knowledge".

[gdw666]

"Had the US not painted over the US flags on their jets & stopped the tank advance"

Nonsense. Never happened.

"there would be no Israel today"

Despite the Israeli butt-kicking of the Arab armies every time they attacked.

" Islam would not be warred on by the Bushies. "

There is no such war. Unless you want to hide behind a blasphemous interpretation of Islam so that you can kill.

[gdw666]

"Kills pirates that kidnapped captian."

He did? I thought it was Navy snipers. How much credit goes to he who says "go ahead". How much thought does that take?

"Now secures the relaese of a convicted spy. "

You mean release of a journalist that was subject of a show trial. Where was he when she was falsely arrested and then convicted?

"Looks like he works well under pressure. "

Why? Did he work without his teleprompter?

[nextgenman09]

The jewraelis are our worst enemies. They leech off US Taxpayer welfare (60 year welfare babies) and they spy on us. All the stereotypes are apparently correct.....

[mejordelahistoria]

and I thought that the greatest spy was 007 , chuck norris and vin diesel............ I guess there is a difference between fiction and reality.