ADL Dodges Responsibility; Tenet Shifts Blame for CIA Anti Semitism

April 19, 1999 - Source: Ha'aretz

Prefacing Note:


The CIA Emperor has no clothes and the ADL court jester, true to form, voluntarily strips naked to join him in a degrading dance that fools no one at all.

Documents show that CIA chief Tenet himself gave the directions that led to the 'ethnic cleansing' in the Ciralsky case. But Tenet now shifts the blame onto nameless "investigators". ADL head Foxman provides a platform for Tenet and then completely dodges the issue. Business as usual.

Story follows:

CIA chief fights off anti-Semite charges

Ha'aretz - April 15, 1999 - By Shlomo Shamir, Ha'aretz Correspondent

NEW YORK - The director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), George Tenet, is taking measures to refute suspicions of anti-Semitism and discrimination by senior CIA officials. Such suspicions were raised recently by Adam Ciralsky, 27, a Jewish attorney who claims that anti-Semitism was the reason for his suspension from the CIA's legal division in October 1997.

Ciralsky's attorney, Neal Sher, has claimed that he was put on leave "because of his legitimate, and his family's legitimate, ties to Israel."

Abraham Foxman, the director of the Anti-Defamation League, wrote to Tenet, asking for an explanation of Ciralsky's suspension. Foxman wrote, "The ADL has no independent means to assess or investigate Mr. Ciralsky's charges." But, he continued, "based upon documents his attorney Neal Sher has shared with us, some of the questions Mr. Ciralsky was apparently asked by CIA officials seem inappropriate and susceptible to charges that they reflect an anti-Semitic bias.

The CIA director responded to Foxman's query in a letter dated April 13: "I take allegations of prejudice very seriously. I will not tolerate anti-Semitism, or any other form of discrimination, at the CIA. It is repugnant to me and to all that our agency and country stand for."

Tenet admitted in his letter that "I also believe that some of the language used by investigators in this case was insensitive, unprofessional, and highly inappropriate." He added that "The CIA is an organization that celebrates diversity more than any other part of the U.S. government... The notion of singling out any agency employee or any group for different or unfair treatment is totally abhorrent to me and all of the CIA leadership team.


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