The Wall Street Journal - 13.09.2019

A8| Friday, September 13, 2019 ** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

Lebanese President Michel

Aoun called a late-August

drone attack in a Beirut sub-

urb the equivalent of a decla-

ration of war. He appealed to

the U.S. and France to inter-

vene to calm the situation.

Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan

Nasrallah, vowed Tuesday to

strike Israeli military vehicles

in its next attack.

Current and former Israeli

officials acknowledge that Is-

rael’s campaign is adding to

tensions. But they say the al-

ternative scenario is unaccept-

able: allowing a foe to obtain

missile technology that could

overwhelm Israel’s defenses

and enable sneak attacks.

“If someone is not ready to

risk anything, he will not gain

anything,” said Yaakov

Amidror, who was Israeli na-

tional security adviser from

2011 to 2013 and is now at the

Jerusalem Institute for Strat-

egy and Security. “Here we

might lose the ability to de-

fend ourselves if they succeed

to build on top of what they

already have.”

Sparring continued this

week when Hezbollah said

Monday it had downed an Is-

raeli drone, and Syrian-based

militias fired rockets at Israel

following a report that an air-

strike had killed Tehran-sup-

ported militants near the Iraq-

Syria border. Israeli officials

said the drone fell because of

a technical problem.

Hezbollah and Israel have

fought two full wars, most re-

cently in 2006.

Israeli officials believe Hez-

bollah has since expanded its

arsenal and capabilities. They

say the paramilitary group is

trying to manufacture new

precision-guided missiles and

convert some of its 130,

unsophisticated rockets into

these more-precise weapons to

target Israel. Hezbollah denies

the charge.

Hezbollah has a few dozen

precision-guided missiles but

isn’t able to produce them in

significant numbers yet, Is-

raeli officials say.

Israel’s efforts to reverse

Hezbollah’s progress toward

more-advanced missiles have

ended a fragile lull in the con-

flict.

“Don’t pay too much atten-

tion when they say they want

to avoid war,” said Jacob Na-

gel, head of Israel’s National

Security Council from 2016 to

2017 and a fellow at the Foun-

dation for Defense of Democ-

racies. “If something will hap-

pen, the reaction isn’t if the

sides want war or not, the re-

action is keeping with their

best interests.”

The margin for miscalcula-

tion is narrow. On Sept. 1, an

antitank missile fired from

Lebanon narrowly missed an

Israeli military vehicle with

five people inside, an Israeli

military official said.

“Both sides are acting, hop-

ing that it will be limited to

below the escalation line,”

said Amos Yadlin, a former

head of Israel’s military intelli-

gence who is now executive

director of the Institute for

National Security Studies at

Tel Aviv University. “But they

can miscalculate.”

—Dov Lieber in Tel Aviv

and Nazih Osseiran in Beirut

contributed to this article.

With tensions rising, Israeli soldiers unloaded a tank near the Lebanese border in late August and

supporters of Hezbollah cheered a speech by leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut in early September.

WORLD NEWS

sentia, was given a 10-month

suspended sentence and fined

€10,000 ($11,000) for the beat-

ing in September 2016 at her

apartment on the western edge

of Paris. Her bodyguard, Rani

Saïdi, who was present in

court, was handed an eight-

month suspended sentence and

fined €5,000. Neither is ex-

pected to serve any time in jail.

Emmanuel Moyne, a lawyer

for Princess Hassa, said the

princess would appeal the

ruling. A person close to the

Saudi royal family denied that

the princess ordered a beat-

ing, saying she merely asked

the bodyguard to stop the

workman from taking photo-

graphs in her apartment.

The verdict comes as the

Saudi royal family and Prince

Mohammed struggle to over-

come damage to their reputa-

tion after last year’s gruesome

killing of journalist Jamal

Khashoggi at the Saudi Consul-

ate in Istanbul. The CIA con-

cluded the prince himself likely

ordered the killing. The Saudi

government says Saudi opera-

tives killed him on their own

initiative in a “rogue operation,”

and Saudi prosecutors have

charged 11 people in his death.

Princess Hassa was charged

with ordering the beating dur-

ing a visit by the worker,

Ashraf Eid, for repairs to her

apartment on Avenue Foch, an

upscale address near the Arc

de Triomphe where wealthy

foreigners often buy real es-

tate. The princess became en-

raged after she thought Mr.

Eid was surreptitiously trying

to photograph her, French

prosecutors said.

After being summoned by

the princess, her bodyguard

tied up Mr. Eid, beat him, put

a gun to his head and ordered

him to kiss her feet, Mr. Eid

said. At one point Princess

Hassa said, “Kill him, the dog,

he doesn’t deserve to live,”

Mr. Eid told the police.

Yassine Bouzrou, a lawyer

for Mr. Saïdi, said his client

sought only to protect his em-

ployer. He said Mr. Saïdi ran

over upon hearing the prin-

cess shout for help and firmly

pushed back the assailant.

PARIS—A French court con-
victed the sister of Crown
Prince Mohammed bin Salman
of ordering her bodyguard to
assault a workman who said
he was beaten in her luxury
apartment and forced to kiss
the princess’s feet.
Princess Hassa bint Salman
Al Saud, who was tried in ab-

BYMATTHEWDALTON
ANDNOEMIEBISSERBE

Saudi Princess Convicted in France of Ordering a Beating

AVIVIM, Israel—A widening
campaign by Israel to blunt
the threat posed by Iran’s ally
Hezbollah, and the pushback
from beyond Israel’s borders,
are raising the risk that the
two sides will stumble into an-
other war.
In what is known in Israel as
the war between the wars, Is-
rael has been hitting targets in
Syria for years to try to prevent
Tehran from moving military
supplies to its Lebanese ally.
More recently, it expanded that
effort to Lebanon and Iraq.
Hezbollah responded last
week, firing antitank missiles
into this small farming commu-
nity on the Lebanese border.
Israeli military officials said
Hezbollah had crossed a line
by firing into a civilian area
rather than a closed military
site. “These are places Hezbol-
lah shouldn’t take the war be-
tween wars because it will end
in a war,” an Israeli military
official said.
Israel has widened the cam-
paign as Prime Minister Benja-
min Netanyahu fights to hold
on to his post, facing a re-
election bid on Tuesday.
Mr. Netanyahu speaks regu-
larly about Israel’s need to
combat Iranian aggression, but
Israel has acknowledged only
some details of the military
campaign.
Israel has relied on high-
tech surveillance to track what
its officials say are Hezbollah’s
efforts to manufacture preci-
sion-guided missiles and build
tunnels into northern Israel.
The campaign also includes
psychological operations. Last
week, Israel staged the evacu-
ation of an apparently
wounded soldier to trick Hez-
bollah into claiming Israeli ca-
sualties after its strike on Avi-
vim. The attack left two
craters and a large patch of
charred grass.
At the nearby Shebaa
Farms, a small strip of dis-
puted land controlled by Israel
that borders Lebanon and the
Israeli-controlled Golan
Heights, the combatants have
grown accustomed to exchang-
ing fire. The approximately 10-
square-mile area is sur-
rounded by missile nets and
jamming equipment intended
to intercept incoming fire.
Elsewhere along the Leba-
non-Israel border, Israel uses
drones and other means to
monitor Hezbollah’s activities.
Mannequins have been posi-
tioned in jeeps to dupe Hez-
bollah on where Israeli forces
are stationed.
Even before last week’s
flare-up, hostilities were high.

BYFELICIASCHWARTZ

Israel Tiptoes Toward Conflict With Lebanese Foes

WASHINGTON—The Trump
administration turned over a
key piece of new information
to lawyers for 9/11 victims’
families, a move that could
cast light on long-disputed re-
ports of Saudi government in-
volvement in the terrorist at-
tacks.

The Federal Bureau of In-
vestigation provided the name
of a Saudi official contained in
a 2012 report that the bureau
has long sought to shield from
full public view. It declined to
release any other information
the families had sought, which
could have further compli-
cated already-tense relations
between Washington and Ri-
yadh.
The decision, revealed in a
Thursday court filing, marks
the latest turn in a long battle
between the families and the
FBI to get access to an unre-
dacted copy of the report and
other information. The fami-
lies sought the document as
part of a lawsuit against Saudi

Arabia that accuses its govern-

ment of helping coordinate the

2001 attacks.

Victims’ families had for

months urged the government

to provide the full report, tell-

ing President Trump in a let-

ter recently that it would help

them “finally learn the full

truth and obtain justice from

Saudi Arabia.”

The FBI, citing the “excep-

tional nature of the case” said

it would provide only the

name of the one Saudi official

that the families had wanted

most to obtain, but no other

information. The name of the

official won’t be made public,

but would be given privately

to lawyers for the victims’

families, according to the fil-

ing.

James Kreindler, an attor-

ney for the families, said they

intend to file a motion to lift

the protective order, and

would continue to fight for

more information. He said the

name that was revealed wasn’t

a surprise but declined to

characterize the person fur-

ther.

The families celebrated the

decision. “This was a key doc-

ument, but by no means the

only evidence we have been

pursuing and securing from

the FBI,” the families said in a

statement, describing it as a

“big victory and good result.”

An FBI official played down

the significance of the infor-

mation, saying that the docu-

ment’s reference to the Saudi

official at issue referred to an

“investigative theory being

pursued by the FBI at that

time” and “does not represent

an objective statement of

fact.”

The official said the FBI

was shielding additional infor-

mation to protect classified in-

formation related to “ongoing

investigations” and to protect

its source and methods. Attor-

ney General William Barr as-

serted the state secrets privi-

lege to keep the other

information secret, saying

there was a “reasonable dan-

ger” that releasing it would

“risk significant harm to na-

tional security.”

Nearly 3,000 people were

killed when terrorists crashed

hijacked airliners into the

World Trade Center, the Pen-

tagon and, after passengers

resisted, a field in Pennsylva-

nia.

Saudi Arabia has denied of-

ficial complicity in the attacks.

While 15 of the 19 hijackers

were from Saudi Arabia, offi-

cial U.S. government reviews

haven't made public any con-

crete evidence of Riyadh’s in-

volvement.

The Saudi Embassy didn’t

respond to a request to com-

ment.

The U.S. government’s deci-

sion comes amid broader ten-

sions between Washington and

Riyadh, through which Mr.

Trump has largely stood by

Crown Prince Mohammed bin

Salman.

The document at issue con-

sists of a four-page 2012 sum-

mary of an FBI inquiry into

three people who may have as-

sisted two of the hijackers in

California in finding housing,

obtaining driver’s licenses and

other matters.

Two of the people, Fahad

al-Thumairy and Omar al-Bay-

oumi, were linked to the Saudi

government, according to FBI

and congressional documents.

The third person, whose name

is redacted, is described in the

summary as having tasked the

other two with assisting the

hijackers.

Last year, lawyers for the

families subpoenaed the FBI

for an unredacted copy in the

belief that the third person

was potentially a senior Saudi

official who exercised author-

ity over both of the men.

Mr. Trump’s allies had also

urged him to release the infor-

mation. Days after the October

2018 killing of journalist Jamal

Khashoggi at a Saudi consul-

ate in Istanbul, Rep. Matt

Gaetz (R., Fla.), a close ally of

the president, met in Washing-

ton with Prince Khalid bin Sal-

man, younger brother of

Prince Mohammed. Mr. Gaetz

called on him to produce doc-

uments in the court case and

“make right the loss of the

9/11 families,” Mr. Gaetz said.

At the time the prince,

known as KBS, was serving as

Saudi ambassador to the U.S.,

but he was recalled to the

kingdom amid outrage over

the killing. The CIA said in a

secret assessment last year

that it had medium-to-high

confidence that Prince Mo-

hammed probably ordered Mr.

Khashoggi’s death.

That has put Mr. Trump in

a bind given his desire to

maintain ties with the Saudi

government, which he has said

is an important ally and sup-

ports the U.S. defense industry

with billions in arms pur-

chases.

Saudi Arabia’s official in-

volvement in the planning of

the 9/11 attacks is the subject

of some dispute. The 9/

Commission said in its 2004

report it didn’t find evidence

that Mr. al-Thumairy had pro-

vided assistance.

It also said it had seen “no

credible evidence” that Mr. al-

Bayoumi “believed in violent

extremism or knowingly aided

extremist groups.”

—Alex Leary

contributed to this article.

ByAruna Viswanatha,

Sadie Gurman

andWarren P. Strobel

U.S. Provides a Saudi Name in 9/11 Case

CAIRO—Egypt’s plan to im-

port Israeli natural gas is be-

ing upended by security

threats in the region where

the military is fighting Islamic

State, a senior U.S. energy of-

ficial said, delaying implemen-

tation of a landmark 2018 Is-

rael-Egypt deal.

U.S. Deputy Energy Secre-

tary Dan Brouillette, visiting

Cairo for talks with Egyptian

officials, said Thursday that

the security situation in North

Sinai has disrupted plans to re-

pair pipeline infrastructure

that connects Egypt and Israel.

Under a $15 billion deal

struck in February 2018, natu-

ral gas was supposed to begin

flowing to Egypt from Israel

across the North Sinai pipeline

in March, but Israeli and

Egyptian officials say the im-

ports won’t begin until late

this year or early 2020.

“I do think the security is-

sues factor into this,” said Mr.

Brouillette, as he pressed

Egypt’s oil minister, Tarek al-

Molla, to take into account

safety concerns.

“There’s some infrastruc-

ture that needs to be repaired

in that area. That’s part of the

holdup for shipping the gas,”

said Mr. Brouillette. “No one

wants to send individuals into

harm’s way.”

Egyptian officials, who ha-

ven’t given a reason for delay-

ing the gas deal’s implementa-

tion, didn’t respond to a

request to comment on Mr.

Brouillette’s remarks.

In a recent interview, Is-

rael’s Energy Minister Yuval

Steinitz said security issues

weren’t to blame. “The situa-

tion is improving, and I never

heard there is any problem

from this aspect,” he said.

He didn’t respond to a re-

quest to comment on Thurs-

day.

Islamic State militants have

escalated a campaign of at-

tacks in recent months on

Egyptian security forces and

civilians, claiming to have

killed some 300 people

throughout the country in the

first half of 2019.

The Egypt-Israel gas deal

followed years of U.S. diplo-

macy aimed at establishing

closer ties between the two

neighbors who have a formal

government relationship but

few social and economic ties.

BYJAREDMALSIN

ISIS Risk

Disrupts

Gas Deal

In Sinai

Victims’ families had

urged the government

to release the

unredacted report.

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