Final_Judgment

440 Agents of Influence [343]
1948. As we noted, the Institute not only had wide-ranging intelligence
connections—but also intimate ties to the Lansky Syndicate.
Therefore it will come as no surprise to the reader to learn that one of
Fisher's contacts in both petroleum and weapons smuggling to the Jewish
Haganah through Sonneborn was rising Lansky Syndicate figure Morris
Dalitz, then of Detroit's Purple Gang, and one of the leading Mid-West
dealers in military surplus. 873 Dalitz himself would later emerge as a prime
investor in the Permindex operation and would become one of the highestranking
figures in the crime syndicate.
(In Chapter 10 we first met Dalitz and examined the strange connection
between Dalitz and House Assassinations Committee director Robert
Blakey. In Chapter 14 we explored further the manner in which Blakey,
while proclaiming that "the Mafia Killed JFK," pointed the finger at Italian-
American mob figures and away from the direction of the Jewish elements
in the Lansky syndicate.)
That Fisher and Dalitz should be working together at this time is
interesting, inasmuch as during the early 1930's—nearly 20 years
previously—Fisher had been a "runner" for Dalitz's Purple Gang in Detroit,
carrying cash receipts to Bronfman family bootleggers in Canada in advance
payment for forthcoming shipments of illicit goods. 874 Thus, the Fisher-
Dalitz relationship had come full circle. The two successful businessmen
who rose to affluence in the seamy world of the Lansky Crime Syndicate
were now engaged in covert (and undoubtedly profitable) activities to
advance the cause of Israel.
Fisher's activities in the public arena on behalf of Israel brought him to
public respectability. Until then he was simply known as a successful but
still relatively small-time oilman. However, in 1957 when he was brought
into Israel's Paz conglomerate as a partner with Tibor Rosenbaum and Shaul
Eisenberg, Fisher's fortunes and political influence grew immensely.
By 1964—at which time Congressman Gerald Ford of Michigan was
serving on the Warren Commission—Max Fisher was the undisputed
financial angel for Ford and the Republican Party of Michigan.
Fisher's fortunes continued to advance, however, as did his influence
within the Republican Party nationwide and in international Jewish affairs.
In 1975 the well-connected Mr. Fisher took over the chairmanship of United
Brands, formerly United Fruit. 875 (The role of United Fruit in the 1954
coup in Guatemala—working in conjunction with the CIA—is discussed,
among other places, by David Wise and Thomas B. Ross in their book, The
Invisible Government—an early expose of the CIA—which refers to that
misadventure in Central America as "the CIA's banana revolt." 876
So it is to this day that Tibor Rosenbaum and Gerald Ford's mutual
friend, Max Fisher, is one of the most powerful men in America—perhaps
the world. But Ford and Rosenbaum themselves shared another interesting
mutual friend. And, as we shall see, this mutual friend—like Max Fisher—
played a pivotal role in advancing Gerald Ford's political career at a critical
juncture in time.