After publishing an article in Newsweek alleging aggressive Israeli espionage against the United States, reporter Jeff Stein took to Twitter last week to reject the accusation that there were anti-Semitic elements to the story. Stein’s defense elicited a response from Bloomberg columnist Jeffrey Goldberg: “I’m really, seriously disappointed that your piece is filled with dog-whistles.” Goldberg’s tweet prompted a closer look at Stein’s record.
Last year, in his blog SpyTalk, Stein commented on the potential nomination of then-Congresswoman Jane Harman to head the CIA: “Congress is already Israeli-occupied territory. The last thing Washington needs is to cede another settlement in Langley.” The idea that Israel or Jews control or occupy the American government is common trope of anti-Semites.
The problem with Stein’s reporting isn’t limited to his own judgments, but also his choice of sources. One source he used is Philip Giraldi. Giraldi is a writer for the Council for the National Interest, a Washington-based anti-Israel organization. In one of his recent analyses, Giraldi referred to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as an “Israel-firster,” adopting the language of those who consider supporters of Israel to be suspect of disloyalty to the U.S.
Another source for Stein is a website, the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep). The website describes one of sections the “Israel Lobby Archive” as documenting “one of the most harmful forces driving policy formulation in the U.S. political process.”
Stein, in his own words and his choice of sources, shows himself to be not merely a critic of Israel but someone who believes that support for Israel is inimical to the interests of the United States.
Much of the commentary about last week’s Newsweek report that Israel was guilty of aggressively spying on the United States focused on the motives of the sources for the story. Whatever their motives, in choosing Stein to tell their story, they seem to have knowingly picked someone with a pronounced and protracted antipathy for Israel.
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