Chapter 11 The Israeli Contact

1830 Zulu, Monday, May 28, 1984, Agency Headquarters

The Secretary of State didn’t call the Director until Thursday with the information on the State Department contact. Meetings kept the Director tied up all day so he didn't relay the name of the contact to Jackson until after 5:00 pm. Jackson caught David before he left for the day and asked him to meet with the contact on Friday morning. David called Friday morning but the contact was out sick so he wasn’t able to meet until Monday when she returned to work. After returning from the Monday meeting with the State Department contact David gathered Jackson and the Fox Trot team in the SCIF to report his findings.

“Let me quickly summarize, the State Department contact designated for us is the source of the State Department story. Her name is Sarah Jacobs. She is a young staffer in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs. She got her information from a young man in Israel she met and dated briefly while working in the American Embassy in Tel Aviv as part of her rotation. His name is Levi Meissner and he told her he worked in a government agency like our Commerce Department but she did not verify his story.”

“When she left Israel they agreed to stay in contact and she told me they exchange a couple of letters a month; mostly about each other’s vacations and work. She assured me she never discusses any sensitive or confidential State Department work. She doesn’t have a clearance above confidential so she has no access to secret or special access information. As to his telling her about the joint exercises, it was in a question to her in his most recent letter. He asked if America is planning any response to the planned joint military exercises in East Germany. Not knowing anything about the subject she asked her supervisor, the Asst. Secretary, the question. When the Asst. Secretary learned the question had come from Sarah’s Israeli friend he forwarded the information to the Secretary and told Sarah not to reply to her friend’s question until she got further instructions.”

“The Secretary, being one of the few people knowledgeable of the President’s plans for troop reductions in Europe, realized military exercises in East Germany by the Warsaw Pact could derail the President’s plans. So she informed the President and you know the story from there.”

Jackson took over and said, “Thank you, David, did you check to see if we have any information on Ms. Jacob’s friend Levi?”

“For sure, I checked our databases as soon as I got back from the State Department. Our data says he is believed to be a low-level employee in Israeli intelligence. The data is sparse; we believe he is in Mossad but it’s possible he is in the military intelligence Aman. Sarah showed me a photograph of Meissner. He is a handsome young man but he has a hard look consistent with his being in the military or Mossad. So I believe his story to Sarah Jacobs is a cover to protect his being in one of the intelligence services.”

“Good Job David. I am not surprised Levi Meissner is in intelligence but all that adds to our understanding is it increases the likelihood the story is planted. Does anyone have ideas to share on how we should proceed?”

“I would say there are three possibilities,” answered Jason. “The intel could be true or false and planted, or false and just made up by Meissner. If it’s false and planted then it could have been initiated by Israel or some other source. If it’s made up by Meissner it could be he’s either trying to impress Sarah or testing her as a possible future asset for Israel.”

“I agree,” replied David. “So we should continue our analysis because the primary question is still whether the intel is true or false. Second, we should determine if the Brit’s source is from Israel and possibly even the same guy. Third, let’s see if Meissner will reveal the source of his information. We can try by planting a fishing story via a letter from Sarah Jacobs.”

“Worth a try,” said Jackson. “Any ideas for a fishing story Jason?”

“Yes, I suggest the most straightforward approach is for Sarah to say America doesn’t know about the planned exercises as far as she knows. She can say she asked the Asst. Secretary and he didn’t know either. Then say the Asst. Secretary thinks it could be important but he won’t follow up until Sarah’s source reveals more details and where he got the information so his story can be validated. Say the Asst. Secretary wants to know the schedule for the exercises, the units involved and who ordered the exercises.”

“That might work,” said David. “But I expect Meissner will say he can't reveal his source or he could say he overheard a conversation in a coffee shop.”

“Yeah,” Jason responds thoughtfully, “but then Sarah can say she doesn’t believe him and she believes he made up the story to make himself seem more important than he really is. Then she can tell him not to pull something like that again unless he can back up what he says. That might lead him to  reveal his source or make up a false source, which we can likely determine is false, or he can admit he made up the story and ask for forgiveness.”

“I think the fishing story might have a reasonable chance of giving us some useful information Jason. David, take it to Sarah and see if she’ll cooperate. I think the best approach with the Brits is to say yes we picked up the intel on the exercises but the source wasn’t known to us previously and we didn't believe it’s reliable so we hadn’t reported it to the Director. That is why he didn’t know about it when they asked. Then we agree to reveal our source, even though we believe it to be unreliable if they will reveal their source. I can take care of following up with the Brits. Let’s touch base again tomorrow after I’ve talked to the Brits and David determines if Sarah Jacobs will cooperate.”

After Jackson left and the team disperses David follows Jason to Jason’s office and asks, “So, how did the second date with Mary Sue go?”

“Wonderful. We had dinner and talked until the restaurant closed. I really enjoyed the evening with her.”

“Sounds like progress Jason. Are you planning another date?”

“Yes, she invited me to her apartment for a home cooked dinner next Friday after work. I am really looking forward to that. I am worried though. I am a pretty average guy and she has a law degree and works for a senator. She may be looking for a hot shot lawyer or a rich guy.”

“Don’t worry about that Jason. Nancy knows Mary Sue quite well and says she doesn’t dig that type. Nancy says Mary Sue is looking for someone authentic; someone like you for sure.”

“I hope Nancy is right David.”