Charges Loom for ‘Israeli Spy’ Franklin

Security sources indicate that the FBI has been tracking Franklin’s movements, photographing his activities, and taping conversations that were bugged for more than a year. The sources add that the investigation takes time because of the diplomatic sensitivity of the issue. Franklin works as an analyst in the Pentagon’s Near East and South Asia Department.

It is not clear yet whether Franklin will be accused of espionage or negligence regarding secret documents. However, some officials defend that exercising the second option is more likely since the documents are not "top secret".

America’s CBS TV, which broke the news about the Pentagon mole scandal, reports that an arrest warrant could be issued sometime this week. Some other media are reporting that the FBI met with Franklin.

Franklin, who worked for Assistant Secretary of US Department of Defense Douglas Faith, the third-highest ranking official in the Pentagon, is accused of leaking a presidential directive regarding Iran to Israel via two American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) officials. The document in question was classified as secret.

Some sources stress that the incident occurred during a time that the Washington administration held important discussions regarding its Iran policy, therefore allowing Israel the opportunity to influence the White House’s decisions because it was privy to confidential information during a very critical time.