FBI Memos Accuse Israel of Obstructing Odeh Murder Probe

The FBI has complained that Israel is obstructing its investigation of the 1985 bomb slaying of Arab-American leader Alex Odeh in Santa Ana and several other terrorist acts in which the Jewish Defense League members are suspected, internal FBI memoranda disclosed Wednesday.

The memos, written by the head of the FBI’s investigations division, said Israel’s responses to FBI requests for information about terrorist suspects living in Israel “have been untimely, incomplete, and in certain cases no response was rendered.”

“Response to these leads is crucial for the solution of the 25 terrorist incidents and other criminal activity perpetrated by the JDL,” Floyd I. Clarke, assistant director for investigations, told his boss, Executive Assistant Director Oliver B. Revell, in one memo.

A copy of one of the memos was obtained by the Village Voice in New York. Its contents, along with those of a second memo, were subsequently confirmed by government sources.

‘Ensure Free Exchange’

The FBI, which works closely with Israel’s Secret Intelligence Service, declined comment on the ground that such ties “must be maintained in a confidential matter in order to ensure a free exchange of meaningful intelligence.”

Yosef Gal, a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy here, did not respond to questions about the memoranda or any Israeli failure to cooperate in the investigations, which are being conducted by federal grand juries in Los Angeles and Brooklyn.

Any Israeli effort to hamper the FBI’s probe of terrorism directed against Arab-Americans would probably strain U.S.-Israeli relations, already bruised by Israel’s lack of cooperation in the case of Jonathan Jay Pollard, the Naval intelligence analyst convicted of spying for Israel.

A government source familiar with the latest impasse contended that the situation “has improved somewhat (from when the memos were written), but still is far from resolved.” But Charles Rose, an assistant U.S. attorney directing the Brooklyn-based investigation of terrorist acts in which JDL members are suspected, said he is “surprised” by the FBI’s memo and contended that Israel had not hampered his inquiry.

Rose’s investigation is wide-ranging, being conducted under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, as well as mail fraud and extortion laws related to fund raising for the JDL. It covers a score of terrorist acts dating back to 1984, including the Odeh slaying.

Another government source said suspects in Rose’s inquiry include JDL members who frequently travel to and from Israel and are active there in the anti-Arab party led by JDL’s founder, Rabbi Meir Kahane.

The FBI memo said it was seeking from the Israeli government “telephone subscriber information, criminal background information, arrest records, prison contacts, associates, residence status and travel documentations.”

The FBI’s terrorism section has held many meetings with Israeli Secret Intelligence Service representatives here, where its concerns over lack of cooperation were raised, the memo said.

The Palestine-born Odeh was West Coast regional director of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee. He was killed 12 hours after he appeared on a late-night TV news program to condemn terrorism and defend Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat as “a man of peace.”

Witnesses to the Oct. 11, 1985, explosion at Odeh’s office, including his former office assistant, have received subpoenas from a federal grand jury requesting their testimony about the event.

In a related development, former Sen. James G. Abourezk (D-S.D.), chairman of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, confirmed that the FBI’s terrorism unit had told him four or five months ago that it had discovered a plot against his life while it was investigating the Odeh killing.

“They told me they didn’t think it (the plot) still exists,” Abourezk said, noting that agents provided no other details. Abourezk said he has been taking precautions ever since, including “looking both ways before I cross the street.”