2002 Israeli military action
Karine A
affair
|
---|
|
Military equipment confiscated from MV
Karine A
|
Planned by
| Israeli Sea Corps
|
---|
Objective
| Seizure of MV
Karine A
|
---|
Date
| January 3, 2002
; 22 years ago
(
2002-01-03
)
|
---|
Executed by
| Shayetet 13
|
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Outcome
| Success
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The
Karine A
affair
, also known as
Operation "Noah's Ark"
(
Hebrew
:
???? ???? ???
,
romanized
:
Mivtza Teyvat Noah
), was an Israeli military action in January 2002 in which the
Israel Defense Forces
(IDF) forces seized
MV
Karine A
, which, according to the IDF, was a
Palestinian
freighter
in the
Red Sea
.
[1]
The vessel was found to be carrying 50 tons of
weapons
, including short-range
Katyusha rockets
,
antitank
missiles, and
high explosives
.
[1]
[2]
[3]
Background
Prior investigation had revealed that the captain of the vessel was Colonel Omar Akawi, a
Fatah
activist since 1976 and former member of the
Palestinian Authority
.
[1]
[2]
[4]
According to
Lloyd's List
, which tracks worldwide shipping records, the ship was purchased on August 31, 2001 from a Lebanese company by the Palestinian Authority, under the name of Adel Mughrabi.
[1]
The alleged purchaser of the weapons, Mughrabi (aka Adel Salameh), was a former member of
Yassir Arafat
's staff until the early 1980s "when he was dismissed for conducting private business which conflicted with his official status".
[5]
From October 2000, Mughrabi was in contact with the Iranians and
Hezbollah
.
[1]
[2]
[6]
Mughrabi was one of the key contacts in the Palestinian weapons obtainment system. He was supported by the Palestinian Naval Police Commander Juma'a Ghali and his executive Fathi Ghazem. Their objective was to sneak in a great amount of weapons for the use of the Palestinian Authority.
[1]
This particular operation included the purchase and facilitating of ships, forming of a sailing crew, planning on how to store and hide the weapons, the loading of the weapons into the vessels, and the transit of it until delivered to the Palestinian Authority.
[1]
[3]
[4]
The ship was then sailed to
Sudan
, where it was loaded with regular cargo and the crew was switched with Palestinian Authority personnel.
[2]
[4]
It was renamed from
Rim K
to
Karine A
when it was registered in
Tonga
on September 12.
[7]
During November 2001, they sailed to the
Hodeida
port in
Yemen
. Afterwards, the ship was loaded with weapons by the Iranians and the Hezbollah; while in transit, it was manned by personnel of the Palestinian Authority.
[2]
The objective was to transport the weapons to the Palestinian Naval Police near the
Gaza
beaches.
[1]
[3]
[4]
During December 2001, Mughrabi gave the ship detailed instructions to sail to the beaches of
Qeshm Island
,
Iran
.
[1]
[2]
There a ferry approached it?most likely from Iran. This ferry contained the weapons stored in 80 large wooden crates, which were transferred onto the ship. The personnel of the ship then placed these weapons in special waterproof containers?which were produced only in Iran. These containers are floatable and have a configurable system that determines how deep they are submerged.
[1]
When the loading was completed the ship needed to alter its heading towards the Hodeida port, due to technical problems.
[1]
After the ship crossed the canal it was expected to meet with three smaller ships and to transfer the load onto them?these smaller ships were purchased in advance.
[4]
They were then supposed to drop the weapons near
El Arish
, Egypt.
[4]
The commander of the Palestinian Naval Police, Juma'a Ghali and his executive Fathi Ghazem, would then collect the weapons there.
[1]
Shipment
The ship itself was worth an estimated $400,000, the civilian cargo used to conceal the weapons approximately $3,000,000, and the weapons were estimated at a value of approximately $15,000,000. The shipment included the following weapons:
[1]
[2]
Ashkelon
and other coastal cities would have been threatened by these Katyusha rockets if they had reached Gaza.
[1]
The
Ben-Gurion International Airport
and various major Israeli cities would also have been within the range of these rockets if they were situated in the
West Bank
.
[8]
The shipment additionally included
rubber boats
and
diving equipment
. This equipment could have facilitated seaborne attacks from Gaza against the coastal cities.
[1]
Major General
Yedidya Ya'ari
, the commander of the
Israeli Navy
, reported that the weapons and equipment were packed in 83 crates, in waterproof plastic and attached to
buoys
, to permit their drop-off and retrieval at sea.
[9]
Interception
The mission began at 04:45 on January 3, 2002, in the
Red Sea
, 500 kilometres (311 mi) from Israel.
[2]
The ship was sailing in
international waters
on its way to the
Suez Canal
.
[1]
Israeli Navy commandos
, backed by
combat helicopters
and
aircraft
, surprised the crew and took over the vessel without firing a shot. The ship was taken to
Eilat
the night of January 4.
[10]
Major General
Shaul Mofaz
, chief of staff of the IDF, announced in a
Tel Aviv
news conference on January 4 that the IDF had seized the ship while General
Anthony Zinni
was meeting with
Yasser Arafat
to promote negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
[10]
Aftermath
Israel and the
United States
alleged
Hezbollah
had some link to the Palestinian weapons ship seized by Israel. Three Hezbollah members arrested in
Jordan
were attempting to smuggle Katyusha rockets to the Palestinians (the detainees were later freed by the Jordanians at the request of the
Lebanese government
). Another fishing vessel carrying weapons to the Palestinians was sunk off the Lebanese coast by Israel in May 2002. Israel charged that the weapons and military cargo were purchased with the help of Hezbollah. Hezbollah rejected accusations of involvement in arms shipment.
[11]
Israeli reports stated that the ship, purchased from
Lebanon
, had loaded weapons at the Iranian island of
Kish
in the middle of the night off the coast of
Iran
. It had then sailed through the
Gulf of Oman
, the
Arabian Sea
, the
Gulf of Aden
, and the
Red Sea
.
[12]
Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat
denied any involvement.
[8]
While the IDF maintains that the weapons were bound for the PA, other sources have suggested that the weapons may instead have been headed to Lebanon for the use of the Islamic militant group
Hezbollah
.
[5]
Some academics, such as
Matthew Levitt
,
[13]
Anthony Cordesman
[14]
and
Efraim Karsh
[15]
have also supported the view that the ship was smuggling Iranian weapons to the
Palestinian Authority
.
[8]
Israel subsequently arrested Fuad Shubaki, an Arafat aide who was in charge of finances in the PA and, as such, the mastermind behind the operation.
[16]
He was charged with arms dealing and establishing connections with a foreign agent, for his role in financing the weapons ship.
[16]
In 2006, Shubaki was taken into custody after an IDF raid on the Jericho prison where he was being held together with Ahmed Sa'adat?the leader of the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
.
[16]
They were held together with other assassins of the former tourism minister
Rehavam Ze'evi
.
[16]
Israel's prosecutor demanded that Shubaki must be sent to 25 years in prison, referring to the severity of his crimes. The court decided that Shubaki should be sentenced to a reduced sentence, keeping in mind his high age and health problems.
[8]
Shubaki was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in jail.
[17]
[18]
After his arrest in 2006, Shubaki told the Israelis that the PA funded terror cells such as his. He estimated that between $7 and $10 million was used every two years to purchase arms for the Gaza Strip. Additionally, another $2 million was spent on weapons for the West Bank.
[16]
According to Shubaki the money came from both international aid to the PA, tax money Israel routinely transferred to the PA, and taxes collected from the Gaza Strip.
[16]
He also confessed to his relationship in the purchasing of weapons for the head of the
Tanzim
terror group in Gaza. The Tanzim group was known for their attacks against military installations and Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip.
[16]
The smuggling attempt violated agreements between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
[2]
These agreements state the amount and type of weapons that the Palestinian Authority is permitted to possess.
[2]
Mohammad Javad Zarif
argues that
Arafat
and
Fatah
were not allies with Iran at the time, asserting that Arafat was not allowed to meet with
Ayatollah Khamenei
during his stay in Tehran before this incident during the
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
conference.
[19]
Diplomatic aftermath
United States president George W. Bush felt personally betrayed by Arafat, when he had evidence that "top Palestinian officials" were involved with the
Karine A
, but Arafat sent a letter to Bush "denying any Palestinian involvement".
[20]
According to Bush: "Arafat had lied to me. I never trusted him again. In fact, I never spoke to him again. By the spring of 2002, I had concluded that peace would not be possible with Arafat in power."
[21]
According to
Douglas Feith
, the
Karine A
episode hardened Vice President
Dick Cheney
's opinions of Yasser Arafat and convinced him that Arafat "was part of the global terrorist network."
[22]
Tonga soon suspended its
international ship registry
but later reinstated it.
[23]
[24]
A book entitled
A Raid on the Red Sea: The Israeli Capture of the Karine A
by Amos Gilboa, edited and translated by
Yonah Jeremy Bob
was published in 2021.
[25]
See also
Similar weapons seizures from vessels en route:
References
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
"Seizing of the Palestinian weapons ship Karine A"
(Press release). IDF. January 4, 2002. Archived from
the original
on December 6, 2010
. Retrieved
December 12,
2009
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
"Statement by IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt.-Gen. Shaul Mofaz regarding interception of ship Karine A"
(Press release). IDF. January 4, 2002
. Retrieved
December 12,
2009
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Address by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon following the seizing of the ship
Karine A
"
. Eilat: IDF. January 6, 2002
. Retrieved
December 12,
2009
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Griffin, Jennifer (January 7, 2002).
"Prison interview with Palestinian ship captain smuggling 50 tons of weapons"
. Fox News
. Retrieved
December 12,
2009
.
- ^
a
b
"The Strange Affair of Karine-A"
, Brian Whitaker,
Guardian
, January 21, 2002.
- ^
"Reaction of FM Peres to seizing of the Karine A"
. IDF. January 4, 2002
. Retrieved
December 12,
2009
.
- ^
"Weapons ship mystery deepens"
.
BBC
. January 10, 2002
. Retrieved
June 26,
2008
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Man behind Karine A arms ship sentenced to 20 years in jail"
.
Haaretz
. August 30, 2009. Archived from
the original
on February 10, 2010
. Retrieved
December 18,
2009
.
- ^
"Israel Intercepts Weapons Boat Carrying Missiles, Rockets to Gaza"
.
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
. March 20, 2015
. Retrieved
June 13,
2023
.
- ^
a
b
"IDF Seizes PA Weapons Ship: The Karine A Affair"
.
Jewish Virtual Library
. Retrieved
June 26,
2008
.
- ^
Katyusha Rocket
Global Security
- ^
Bennet, James (January 12, 2002).
"Seized Arms Would Have Vastly Extended Arafat Arsenal"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
May 7,
2010
.
- ^
Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad
, by Matthew Levitt, 2006, p. 176.
- ^
The Israeli-Palestinian War: Escalating to Nowhere
, by Anthony H. Cordesman 2005, p. 277.
- ^
Arafat's War: The Man and His Battle for Israeli Conquest
, by Efraim Karsh, 2004, p. 236.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
Katz, Yaakov (August 30, 2009).
"Mastermind of 'Karine A' given 20 years"
.
The Jerusalem Post
. Archived from
the original
on August 13, 2011
. Retrieved
December 18,
2009
.
- ^
"Man behind Karine A arms ship sentenced to 20 years in jail"
. Archived from
the original
on February 10, 2010
. Retrieved
August 30,
2009
.
- ^
"Satellite News and latest stories | The Jerusalem Post"
.
fr.jpost.com
. Archived from
the original
on August 13, 2011.
- ^
Mr. Ambassador: A Conversation with Mohammad Javad Zarif
. Tehran: Ney Publications. p. 166.
- ^
The Peace Puzzle: America's Quest for Arab-Israeli Peace, 1989?2011
by Daniel C. Kurtzer, Scott B. Lasensky, William B. Quandt, Steven L. Spiegel, and Shibley Z. Telhami
ISBN
978-0-80145147-8
p. 164
- ^
Decision Points
by George W. Bush
ISBN
978-0-307-59061-9
pp. 400?401
- ^
Miller, Aaron David (March 25, 2008).
The Much Too Promised Land: America's Elusive Search for Arab-Israeli Peace
. Random House Publishing Group. p. 541.
ISBN
9780553904741
. Retrieved
August 30,
2014
.
- ^
"The ships that died of shame"
.
smh.com.au
. January 14, 2003.
Archived
from the original on June 2, 2009
. Retrieved
January 4,
2022
.
- ^
International Transport Workers' Federation Seafarers' Section, Current registries listed as FOCs, accessed January 4, 2022.
https://www.itfseafarers.org/en/focs/current-registries-listed-as-focs
- ^
"
'A Raid on the Red Sea' Book Review: Israeli Commandos Intercept an Arms Cache Destined for Terrorists"
.
HistoryNet
. May 31, 2022
. Retrieved
June 13,
2023
.
Further reading
- Brig. Gen. Amos Gilboa,
A Raid on the Red Sea: The Israeli Capture of the Karine A
, Yonah Jeremy Bob (Editor, Translator), Potomac Books, 2021
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