CIA Case Update(on Ciralsky)

Forward - April 23, 1999
From Seth Gitell's Welcome to Washington Column

The director of central intelligence, George Tenet, will address the Anti-Defamation League's national leadership conference next week. A lawyer, Neal Sher, whose client Adam Ciralsky is battling the Central Intelligence Agency over a security clearance, is charging that the CIA may be engaged in anti-Semitism in scrutinizing Mr. Ciralsky's ties to Israel.

Mr. Tenet said that a panel he appointed to review the matter found instances of insensitivity but no anti-Semitism. "As in all situations which deal with issues of principle and concern to the greater Jewish community, first-and foremost comes concern for the individual," said the ADL's national director, Abraham Foxman.

"I would hope the situation be resolved quickly and fairly." The executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Malcolm Hoenlein, said "There are still some efforts to try and resolve it, but there's no resolution yet. We have to see if there's enough common ground."

Sources familiar with the matter said there, are as many of six similar cases pending in the security establishment.