When KNSD television reporter Stacey Baca called me on March 6 to inquire if
I knew anything about youngsters who were arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol
in San Diego and deported to Israel, she seemed surprised when I told her
that I had interviewed two of them at the INS detention facility in Otay
Mesa.

But it was my turn to be surprised when Baca told me that there was a story
on our Associated Press service with the lead: "Authorities have arrested
and deported dozens of young Israelis since early last year who represented
themselves as art students in efforts to gain access to sensitive federal
buildings and the homes of government employees."

The story went on to say: "An FBI official, speaking on condition of
anonymity, noted there were no espionage charges filed against any of the
individuals and that they had been deported. Asked whether any spying
activity occurred, the official repeated that no charges had been filed.

"A Justice Department official, also asking not to be publicly identified,
said investigators have been aware of some Oalleged linkage' between the
students and alleged espionage activities in the United States since early
2001, and said authorities have made arrests in Dallas, Chicago, San Diego
and in south Florida."

I told Baca that description certainly didn¹t resemble the two Jewish
Israelis whom my Israeli son-in-law Shahar Masori and I interviewed for an
article that appeared in Heritage last Nov. 30. Nor did it fit the case of
an Arab Israeli whom we met briefly at the detention facility but who
declined to be interviewed.

The Jewish Israelis, Roi Sharon and Israel Oshri Ben Shitrit, had been
arrested Nov. 16 at the San Onofre checkpoint while hauling furniture from
San Diego to Los Angeles in a rented truck. Unable to produce work permits,
Shitrit, 26, of Ashdod, and Sharon, 22, of the Ramat Hachayal section of Tel
Aviv, were arrested for violating the terms of their tourist visas.

The Arab Israeli, Rami Isa, a resident of Kfar Kasam, had been arrested Oct..
25 near the U.S.-Mexico border crossing at Tecate and accused of entering
the United States illegally. By the time I interviewed him, he had been held
in custody for more than 40 days.

Eventually, all three were sent back to Israel. These were not art students,
and if authorities thought any of them were spies, it's hard to imagine why
they permitted a relative to post bail for Sharon pending his deportation
and Shitrit to be furloughed for one weekend so that he could be hosted for
Shabbat by Rabbi Arthur Zuckerman of Congregation Beth Am.

Like many Israeli youngsters, Sharon and Shitrit had come to the United
States after the conclusion of their compulsory service in the military.
Ill-advisedly, they had picked up odd jobs such as moving furniture to pay
for their travels, and thus were "out of status" when questioned by the
Border Patrol at the San Onofre checkpoint.

After I spoke with Baca, a story from Dr. Joseph Lerner, co-director of the
Independent Media Review and Analysis (IMRA) wire service, crossed my desk.
It described the art student-spy ring story as a hoax that initially had
appeared on Intelligence Online, a French Web site specializing in
intelligence matters.

Lerner's story summarized a report by Agence France Presse, the French wire
service, in which FBI spokesman Bill Carter was quoted as saying: "This
issue of an Israeli spying network is not an issue. No Israeli has been
charged with espionage by the FBI or the Department of Justice in this
matter." 

AFP went on to quote the FBI spokesman as adding that a group of students
"allegedly were involved in activity outside of their visas and they were
removed from the U.S. based on that fact." Lerner then concluded, in a
parenthetical comment, that the students "probably were working without
green cards."

Morris Casuto, San Diego regional director of the Anti-Defamation League,
later told me that he had been advised by his contacts in the local FBI
office that the "Israeli spy story" was bogus.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported that the Israeli spy ring story
appeared "to have been circulated by a single employee of the Drug
Enforcement Administration who is angry that his theories have not gained
currency." The Post went on to quote law enforcement sources that the
unidentified DEA employee appeared to be leaking a memo that he himself had
written.

The Associated Press reported on March 9 that the DEA began compiling
dossiers on 125 youthful Israeli visitors in January 2001 "after a few
showed up at DEA field offices selling landscapes and abstract paintings.
³Then, last spring, the FBI sent a warning to other federal agencies to
watch for visitors calling themselves OIsraeli art students' and attempting
to bypass security at federal buildings. The warning said some were probably
just peddlers but others acted suspiciously and might even be Islamic
fundamentalists posing as Israelis. The notice came months before the Sept.
11 terrorist attacks

"A DEA draft report documented the sales calls at agents' offices or homes
in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Chicago, Atlanta, New Orleans, Miami and other
cities. Some visitors sold paintings at prices ranging from $50 to $200,
while others claimed they were showing the works to promote Israeli art.
"The 61-page DEA report suggests the Israeli wanderings Omay well be an
organized intelligence-gathering activity.' Yet it mostly chronicles people
selling overpriced painting door to door."

I rather liked the lead that AP writer Connie Cass put on this particular
story: "Roving Israeli Oart students' have added another chapter to the
annals of international intrigue for eager spy watchers -- perhaps over-eager
ones."

"Fittingly for a spy tale, much remains murky."