Man linked to N.J. governor goes home to Israel

[Kadie]

Man linked to N.J. governor goes home to Israel


By PETER ENAV, Associated Press


Last Updated: August 17, 2004, 07:30:56 AM PDT


RISHON LETZION, Israel (AP) - The Israeli man at the center of New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey's resignation spoke in public for the first time Tuesday, saying he has had a "very difficult time" and would stay with his family in Israel for a while.

McGreevey resigned last week after announcing that he is gay and that he has had an affair with a man. Sources close to McGreevey have identified the man as Golan Cipel, an Israeli, and said he demanded millions of dollars to stay quiet.

Cipel, 35, has told an Israeli newspaper that he is straight, but that the governor, a former boss, repeatedly made unwanted sexual advances - a claim denied by McGreevey's aides.

On Monday, Cipel flew from the United States, where he has been living, to Israel. He arrived at the home of his parents in the Tel Aviv suburb of Rishon Letzion on Tuesday afternoon, wearing jeans, a blue polo shirt and track shoes.

more...
http://www.modbee.com/24hour/nation/story/1578725p-9180815c.html

[thebigidea]

1. should be interesting to see where he works next.

maybe he'll stand by the side of the road with a cardboard sign saying: WILL (EXPLETIVE DELETED) FOR CUSHY JOB

Or maybe he'll hang around public bathrooms pleasing older gentlmen, insisting all the while that he's not gay - just in need of money.

[lottie244]

49. We just keep letting murders, perjurers, bribers to go home to Israel.

I guess Israelis just maintain dual citizenship so that when they are caught committing crimes, they just sent back to Israel where they go free and continue with whatever they want to do. Did Australia imprison those passport forgers or did they too go back to Israel?

[lottie244]

50. We just keep letting murders, perjurers, bribers to go home to Israel.

I guess Israelis just maintain dual citizenship so that when they are caught committing crimes, they just sent back to Israel where they go free and continue with whatever they want to do. Did Australia imprison those passport forgers or did they too go back to Israel?

[Florida_Geek]

2. interesting

there was a report he was an Israeli spy... Mmmmmm

[Joanne98]

3. what happened to that report i wonder.

the media won't talk about the mossad. if it keeps coming up then they'll drop the whole story. everybody except faux.

[goclark]

8. That's what I believe

He was working under cover and now he has got to blend in in Israel.

[HereSince1628]

4. Why describe the clothes he was wearing?

Did the article needed some clothing semiotic so readers could judge his sexuality?

[SOS]

5. Seems he forgot

to file his "harassment" lawsuit before leaving the country.
Oh well.

[chuck555]

6. They always run home.

Thanks Harry.

[readmylips]

7. I don't understand....he's not gay?

I this Cipel guy had gay sex with another man, he can still claim that he's not gay? McGreevey made unwanted sexual advances...why didn't the guy reported or quit his job.

When it comes to ahhnald schwartzpig, I do think that he had a pattern of engaging in homosexual sex. Ahhnald represents himself as a super superior being and that gives him the right to prey on others sexually, men and women alike.

I was once sexually harassed by a pig in my office. I was a single Mom and needed my job to support my kids. The pig picked on vulnerable women, like myself, thinking that I would be too stupid and in a trapped situation. I reported it to Human Resources and they worked with me to fire the guy.

Cipel was getting all the honey he wanted and when the time was ripe, he demanded 50M to stay quiet. Gee...If I had had sex with multi rich Kobe, I would had suit him too for whatever...as long as I got my hands on his wealth.

[Tempest]

9. Was Cipel an Israeli spy?

http://www.counterpunch.org/madsen08142004.html

An Israeli / Rove Connection?
The McGreevey Scandal

The ties between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Russian-mafia infused government and shadowy Israeli and Eastern European ex-intelligence agents are beyond a doubt, according to international law enforcement officials. But what is not readily apparent is the fact that a number of Israeli off-the-books intelligence operatives are active inside the United States and they do not have U.S. national interests in mind. In particular, the Israeli-Russian mobsters and their allies within the Sharon government have adopted one of the most successful intelligence ploys used by the former KGB and East German Stasi--the use of prostitutes or "swallows" to gain intimate access to high Western politicians, so-called "sexpionage." In the case of Israel, which welcomed a number of émigré former Eastern bloc intelligence agents during and after the Cold War, this has entailed the use of both female and male prostitutes. The fact that White House chief dirty tricks operator Karl Rove has close connections to the political spin machine run out of Sharon's Jerusalem office is also a concern when it comes to Israeli-connected dirty tricks operations being run against Democratic politicians in the United States.

[joeybee12]

10. Me thinks he really is an Israeli spy--I thought that was just a conspirac

theory yesterday, but since he's high-tailed it back to the mother land, AND since I'm willing to bet we never really hear from him again, I'm convinced he is.

Makes me want McGreevey to stick around even longer!

[rocktivity]

11. There's reason to think he was an Israeli spy

According to this story about him being an undercover Mossad agent. Well, you can't say that the Bush regime DOESN'T believe in outsourcing!

:headbang:
rocknation

[joeybee12]

34. Like I said, I wasn't inclined to believe it until the guy hightailed it..

...back to Israel. Starting to sound very fishy. BTW, Cipol is no great shakes--McGreevey could have done better!

[rocktivity]

52. I think we've seen the last of Cipel

Especially if he was doing a "freelance" job for the GOP through Mossad in order to force an election and get a Repub into the NJ statehouse.

If that's true, it means that McGreevey was deliberately targeted and set up, AND that Cipel's negotiations with McGreevey were in bad faith. It may be legal to hire a lawyer to negotiate a payment in exchange for not filing a lawsuit. But if their relationship was consensual (and especially if McGreevey can prove it), then there was NO sexual harassement--and Cipel qualifes to be charged with extortion. No wonder he "high-tailed" it out of the US!

:headbang:
rocknation

[brook]

14. This latest development...

does lend credence to the 'spy' theory, I think. ( Today,one of the NY tabloids (Daily News or Post) had Cipel commenting that he'll get "lots of money" as he departed).

Add in Dadcom's statement re Israeli operatives in the US - and I think McGreevey did the right and painful thing to disarm Cipel.

Wonder if we'll ever get the full story? Probably not as long as we're playing footsie with Sharon.

[Norquist Nemesis]

12. Something smells very fishy about the Cipel story

or at least what we know of it. The first thing that struck me regarding sexual harassment charges is that there is usually a pattern of behavior when these things occur. Rarely is it a single occurance by the offender...yet no one has come out of the woodwork (that we know of) who would lend support on the charges.

Second, I was under the (mistaken?) impression that openly gay in Israel was about as big a taboo as it is with extremist Muslim fundamentalist. That's not to say there aren't gay Israelis, Muslims, Jews, Palestinians, Arabs (pick your group!) but rather they are even less open and out of the closet than here in the US. That's not something I'm very knowledgeable about.

And finally, it was my understanding that the reason Cipel left the first job as head of NJHS was because McGreevey could not get security clearance for him from the Feds. The Feds were unable to determine what he did while in service for Israel. It all started coming apart for Cipel after that on his resume.

[geek tragedy]

15. Being gay in Israel is much easier than being gay in Palestine or other

Muslim countries.

This Mossad-conspiracy mongering is really absurd. People seem to believe that every living Israeli is a Mossad agent.

[Norquist Nemesis]

20. Ummm...where did I say

he's Moussad?

[geek tragedy]

21. Not you,

but a lot of people in general on this thread. Sorry about the confusion.

[Classical_Liberal]

22. It isn't really absurd at all. He worked for the Israeli government

He worked as a propagandist for likud in the US, going on speaking tours to local synagogs and promoting likuds view.

Israel also has a history of such activity here in the US, with Jonothan Pollard, and more recently in Canada and New Zealand.

http://antiwar.com/justin/

The suspicion in this case is quite valid.

[geek tragedy]

25. If you were Mossad, would you have your agent file a lawsuit alleging

same-sex sexual harassment?

The guy sounds like a shady character who thought he could sleep and blackmail his way up the ladder.

And why would Mossad give a shit about the governorship of New Jersey?

[Classical_Liberal]

26. They want to reduce the democratic turnout for Kerry because they

prefer Bush. If you send state Democrats into dissaray it is easier to do this. So they did it to smear Mcgreevey most likely. They also say he was inspecting nuclear facilities and oil refineries as apart of his homeland security job, which McGreevey ulitmately had to fire him from because he was a foriegner and couldn't get security clearence. The blackmail attempt might have been in the interest of securing this job he didn't really have security clearance for.

[geek tragedy]

27. Wow, all of that theory

and zero proof.

Not every Israeli is a Mossad operative. Not everything bad that happens to Dems is a conspiracy.

[Classical_Liberal]

28. There is enough weird crap there to investigate in my view.

Never said I had proof.

As I said he isn't just an Israeli. He is an Israeli that worked for the government, fairly close to elected officials, propagandized for it in America, got a job in New Jersey homeland security investigating sensitive facilities, and is part of a scandal destroying a Democratic politician.

That isn't just conspiracy theorizing. Those are all facts. Like it or not.

While not every Israeli is a Mossad agent, not every Israeli has this mans other background features. I have good reasons to suspect him other than the fact that he is an Israeli, and your whining doesn't change this.

[geek tragedy]

29. If Mossad is so sloppy that people with no investigative resources

can figure out their plots by reading Yahoo! news, then they are a sorry lot indeed.

Of course, this only makes sense if one views Israel and the Democratic party as sworn enemies . . .

[Classical_Liberal]

30. Likud controls Israel

Likud would be natural allies of the repukes because they represent the settler forces. If Labor were in control it MIGHT be different. Also, Pollard was a spy for Israel, does that mean Israel at that time viewed America as a natural enemy? Does Israel view New Zealand as Canada as natural enemies.

[geek tragedy]

40. Sorry, but the idea that Israel is trying to snare horny US politicians

is ludicrous. Until there's real evidence to the contrary, these conspiracy theories remain nothing but idle speculation.

But, here's a bit of logic to puncture this absurd fairy tale:

Labor was governing Israel when these two met. The Israeli was working in a Labor MK's office.

And all countries spy on each other. But, the charge of actively sabotaging the government of another is an extraordinary one, and is not supported by any proof here whatsoever--just an individual desire/willingness to believe the worst about Israelis.


Btw, the fake passports in Canada and NZ were intended to give the Israelis cover to spy in other countries--not to spy against Canada and NZ.

[Classical_Liberal]

43. I didn't charge it with sabotaging our country

. Ensnaring horny politicians to influence American politics yes. It may account for why both parties are so complient, even when they shouldn't be.

[geek tragedy]

45. And you have no evidence and no logic to support your accusation.

All you have is "Israel spies on people, so this Israeli must be a spy."

Let me guess--Monica Lewinsky was an Israeli mole too, right?

[Classical_Liberal]

46. Monica Lewinsky is neither an Israeli or an employee of the Israeli

government. Nor a propagandist for it. Nor did she attempt to work for homeland security, nor were there allegations of blackmail, or a changing story.

There is evidence to support an investigation.

[geek tragedy]

47. No, there isn't any evidence that the Israeli government is involved.

All we have is a stupid politician and a weird sex story.

The Israelis are not out to destroy the Democratic party. Jewish prostitutes are not seducing and blackmailing major figures in each party to ensure support for Israel.

[Classical_Liberal]

48. I think he maybe trying to do precisely all those things and there

is evidence to support an investigation into the possibility. Your assertions have no basis in fact either. They are just biases. At least I have an open mind that I MIGHT be wrong. You are the closeminded one. IN not even want to look into it, I might add that if it were true you wouldn't want to know.

[Ruby Romaine]

16. Wrong- Israeli Gays & Lesbians have more rights than in the US!

Homosexual couples will be exempt from purchase and betterment taxes on their apartment, a benefit until now enjoyed only by heterosexual couples, according to a statement issued by the State Attorney's Office to the Supreme Court.

http://www.gaymiddleeast.com/country/israel


In 1988, they literally called a vote to repeal the sodomy law in the middle of the night, when it was prearranged that religious Knesset members would not be present, promising not to draw too much attention to the effort. The next day, following repeal, religious politicians screamed to the heavens on the radio and in the press, but it was largely for show. This pattern of doing things quietly, even under the table, would repeat itself.

The next few years marked the golden age of gay political success in Israel. By 1992, lesbian and gay activists had succeeded in getting the Knesset to amend Israel's Equal Workplace Opportunities Law to outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

In 1993, the Israeli military rescinded its few regulations discriminating against gays and lesbians. And in 1994, the Israeli Supreme Court ordered El Al Israel Airlines to grant a free plane ticket to the partner of a gay flight attendant, as the airline had long done for heterosexual partners of employees.

Since then, there has been steady progress, especially in the courts. As the victories mounted, so, too, did the number of people prepared to be open about their sexual orientation.

http://www.thegully.com/essays/gaymundo/020220_gay_israel_history.html

[Norquist Nemesis]

17. Thanks for the info!

Like I said, I'm not informed about it. The info is much appreciated. :)

[Ruby Romaine]

32. it's sad we are so backwards in the US-

Even countries like India, Israel, Pakistan & UK have had female Prime Ministers.
it will never happen here.

[joeybee12]

33. Depends on what part of Israel you live in--in Jersualem being gay is very

taboo--lots of orthodox Jews. Other parts of the country are more tolerant.

[denverbill]

13. Wow, very suspicious.

This guy was attempting to extort money from McGreevey. Why the hell doesn't anyone bring that up? 'Buying silence' is paying blackmail.

This guy shouldn't have been allowed to leave the country. He should be in jail.

[TrustingDog]

36. zactly... that's why my spidey senses are tingling about all this.

israelis involved in suspicious or illegal actions/cases too often just get sent back home, never to be questioned again.

there is something Very stinky about all this.

[IA_Seth]

18. Mission Accomplished! n/t

[Minstrel Boy]

19. This isn't a "sex" scandal; it's a "homeland security" scandal.

Why was Cipel, a foreign national, allowed such a supposedly sensitive post?

After all, Newark saw the departure of Flight 93, and the anthrax letters were mailed from the state.

"When the FBI issued a terrorist alert last week, it was apparently Cipel who first contacted McGreevey, not New Jersey's newly appointed terror czar, Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Flicker. Even before McGreevey's election in November, administration sources said, Cipel toured the state – visiting refineries, nuclear plants, bridges, and seaports – to make an inventory of security needs." http://www.bergen.com/cgi-bin/page.pl?id=2564257

No-tinfoil-required alarm bells ought to be ringing right about now.

[makhno]

24. The article conveniently omits ...

... that it will now be impossible for the US authorities to question him, since Israel has a policy of non-extradition of its citizens.

A long and deserved rest at home for a true patriot.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

23. And to think...

I was upbraided, when I first posited that this whole thing smelled like a Tradecraft 101 "Honey Trap" op. Same day the story broke, as I recall.

How time heals wounds and wounds heels...

[brook]

31. No kidding..

I thought there was something "rotten in Denmark" myself when the story first broke - and I read your posts with great interest as they were the first signs that I wasn't just tinfoiling it. Consider yourself appreciated. :bounce:

[TrustingDog]

37. yah, I got laughed/berated and 'almost' called an anti-semite...

for having suspicions like these when the story first broke. And it was a very simple response to someone calling out 'Moosad' in the thread and the laughter accompanying like it was the most tinfoil impossible possiblity and all I said was ...

"I wouldn't quite do your laughing yet..."

to which there were a few prickly responses.

go figure.

[leesa]

35. Why do Israeli spy suspects always get to go home without

any type of investigation??

[TrustingDog]

38. a very good question, never answered. n/t

[Minstrel Boy]

41. I think it's standard, when "friendly" spies are caught or

have their cover blown, that they be deported pronto for "visa violations."

It's happened in Canada as well in the last couple of weeks: more rings of "Israeli art students" broken up and promptly shipped home. And get this: "The scam has attracted the attention of American counter-intelligence agents, who warn the bogus art was being used as a front for Islamic fundamentalist fundraisers." And these are not Israeli Arabs we're talking about. The leaders were identified as "Yukov Senior" and "Guy Grinberg."

Here's the thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=736663

[ilovenicepeople]

51. Why do "SPY" suspects get supported on DU?

well some spy suspects anyway.:shrug: :hi:

[geek tragedy]

55. Because other people on DU have already convicted them of espionage . .

despite a complete lack of evidence. Someone needs to add balance to the folks with pitchforks and torches.

[TrustingDog]

56. consider this....

who Else anywhere in the freaking world can get away with what some Isrealis do, with you guys - the US, with us guys, the rest of the world.

In forty years or so I'm expecting history books to tell my great grand kids that Iraq was unoccupied and, so forth, therefore, there weren't any Iraqi's and Bush's troops just took over a blank spot on the earth to save us rabble from.... something.....

This has got nothing to do with religion/semitism/anti/pro/wot wot. It's got Everything to do with how the predators wank us by our chains and We end up paying for it.

I am so dissapointed that here, on DU, Bush is ragged and ragged on, ( whoop!) but say one nary word against Isreal and you get the 'no free speech zone'... cannot question about Isreal at all... cuz then yer anti-semite.

It's frickken sickenning. It's the SAME SHIT, DIFFERENT PILE, folks.

==
actually I mean the Sharonite policies, just to clear that up.
Just like the Bushite policies...

comprehendé?

[geek tragedy]

57. Oh bullshit.

There's plenty to criticize about Israel. And there is plenty of criticism here.

It's the idiotic conspiracy mongering that meets with disapproval. Every Israeli is considered a member of the Mossad by many around here.

Offer facts instead of Mossad fantasies.

[TrustingDog]

58. I cannot agree... Israeli talk here is very nipped.

""There's plenty to criticize about Israel. And there is plenty of criticism here. """

unless you go into the Pal/Israeli special forum, that only allows a bona fide News story to open a topic???... no opinions, nah. You just have to slide them through like a filthy republican.

I have never seen anything like this in any other forum. But I do not know the history of DU, so ... whatever.

Bush is a Sharon, Sharon is a Bush.

do you GET IT?

[TrustingDog]

39. What if...

McGreevey thought the only way to get Cipels name out in the open - in the news and under some microscopes was to 'out' himself like he did and get the attention. What if McGreevey thought this guy was a danger to the nation and felt he had to get rid of him in whatever way it took...

In the few short days since this story broke - some 'facts' of the case are changing by the hour. very suspicious. First Cipel is said to having been 'raped' and charging McGeevey, then the story comes out that he was given a sensitive homeland security position that he was not qualified for, now he's obviously dropped the charges and just run oft....

hmmmmm

[bex]

42. Sex, Lies, and Terrorism

http://antiwar.com/justin/ August 16, 2004
---
Cipel was brought to the U.S. under the auspices of Charles Kushner, McGreevey's chief fundraiser, whose gigantic real estate holdings made him the rising star among Democratic party moneybags. Cipel's job for the state Democratic party, doing Jewish outreach for the McGreevey campaign, pulled in a paltry amount of money, but Cipel's salary was generously supplemented by work for Kushner as a "consultant."

Kushner is quite a character. Under investigation for tax evasion and election code violations, he recently made headlines when he sent his sister a tape of her husband having sex with a prostitute. The sister had been cooperating with prosecutors looking into the real estate mogul, and Kushner, a noted philanthropist, exacted retribution. Rumor has it that Kushner sought a pardon, apparently unsuccessfully, from the governor he thought he owned. When the pardon wasn’t forthcoming, the threat of a suit by Cipel and his lawyers began to loom large: there has been speculation in the media that Kushner may be behind the governor’s recent troubles, and this is fueled by the question of who’s paying the apparently penniless Cipel’s lawyers, as well as the latest reporting:

"Yesterday a McGreevey administration source said Cipel also had sought the governor's influence in getting a New Jersey license for a New York-based Jewish college.

"Adding another twist to the case, administration sources said that in recent days, Lowy had asked for more than money to forgo a lawsuit. Cipel's lawyer also asked for help in winning a license for Touro College to build the first private medical school in New Jersey, said a top-ranking administration source who spoke on condition of anonymity. Among the board members of Touro College, a Jewish institution based in New York, is Charles Kushner …"
---
http://antiwar.com/justin/ August 16, 2004

[Bluebear]

44. He's fleeing the interview! He's fleeing the interview!

nt

[borat sagdiyev]

53. on a Bush charter plane

no doubt.

[Gin]

54. he was exploiting McGreevy's secret life...trying to get a thug governor

to replace him....from what I read...the governor's secret was not so secret...and he opened himself up to this mess...I also believe it was more dirty tricks from that scumbag rove.

[Tight_rope]

59. HERE: Something interesting to READ about this SET-UP.

Christopher Christie, U.S. Attorney, Newark, New Jersey

Until he resigned from office last week for personal reasons, the Governor of the state of New Jersey was under investigation for public corruption. He might still be.

To get to the Governor, federal prosecutors had go through his big financial contributors. So, they focused on one big financial contributor. This financial contributor didn’t want a witness cooperating with the federal investigation, so he lured the witness into a trap, set him up with a prostitute, and videotaped the scene. Yes, it is New Jersey. Yes, it is public corruption. Yes, it is sordid.

The U.S. Attorney pursuing the case is Christopher Christie, a Republican conservative – tried and true.

The Governor, James E. McGreevey, is a liberal Democrat. The financial contributor, now under indictment, is Charles Kushner. You have to hand it to Christie. Of course, there are the charges of political motivation. Christie, they say, wants to be Governor.

But Christie is an equal opportunity prosecutor of public corruption.
Last year, he nailed former Essex County Executive James W. Treffinger, a Republican. Trefflinger pled guilty to obstruction of justice.

To derail the investigation of his granite company, Treffinger sought to get himself appointed US attorney. He was recorded as saying that there are ''plenty of mobsters to go after – you
don't have to go after all these poor politicians trying to ply their trade." Christie believes that the political criminal is in many ways ''worse than the street criminal because the street criminal never pretends to be anything but what he or she is.”

But while public corruption has been the name of the game in New Jersey almost forever, Christie has also pursued major corporations for pollution, fraud, and false claims against the government. In short, Christie has reinvigorated a formerly sleepy office.

Christie graduated from Seton Hall University Law School in 1987.

He then signed on with the Cranford, New Jersey law firm of Dughi, Hewit & Palatucci, where he became partner. President Bush appointed Christie to be U.S. Attorney for New Jersey in December 2001. Maybe he’s cracking down on corporate crime and corruption because he wants to be Governor of New Jersey.

Maybe he’s doing it because it’s his job. Whatever the motivation, public corruption in New Jersey ain’t going away anytime soon. And better to have a Christopher Christie than someone who’s asleep at the switch.

http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/toptenprosecutors081304.htm

[Jim Sagle]

60. Omidgodddd! Look, there's an Israyyyyyli. Must be Moooosaddddd! Mooooo!!!!