Final_Judgment

[92] Final Judgment 153
Jonathan Kwitny entitled The Crimes of Patriots, has been repeatedly linked to
international drug money trafficking out of Southeast Asia conducted through
the conduit of CIA operations in the region.
(And as we shall see in Chapter 12, Lansky utilized the CIA's activities
in Southeast Asia as a cover for his drug-running operations which were, in fact,
carried out hand-in-hand with the CIA. In Chapter 15, however, we shall see the
Lansky-Rosenbaum connection once again, and in further detail. Their
linkage is critical to recognizing the important role that Israel played in the
JFK assassination conspiracy.
THE GODFATHER GOES HOME
It was in 1970, finally, that Meyer Lansky pulled up stakes and settled
in Israel. Under Israel's unique "Law of Return" any Jew from anywhere in the
world could claim Israeli citizenship. That is what Lansky did.
At home in the United States, Lansky was under criminal investigation.
Exile in Israel seemed a likely way of escaping the trouble. Israel was an
ideal location for Lansky to relocate his operations and he set about plans for
setting up the Jewish State as the new, formal headquarters for his global crime
syndicate. As Hank Messick put it: "As chairman of the board of the Syndicate
International, [Lansky] could operate just as easily—perhaps more easily—from
Tel Aviv as Miami Beach." 253 Lansky's longtime associate Joseph (Doc)
Stacher had already gone to Israel to live. So had a wide-ranging assortment of
other American Jewish mobsters, including Lansky's good friend Phil "The
Stick" Kovolick.
The Mossad-dominated government of Israel seemed to welcome these
criminals as new countryman. Israel, according to Newsweek, "appeared to be
motivated by self-interest. Each year, Lansky and his underworld associates
pour vast sums into Israeli bonds and Israeli philanthropies.
MOB MONEY IN ISRAEL
"As the daily Ha'aretz saw it, the government seemed afraid of losing the
millions of dollars in illicit money first 'laundered' in mob-controlled
institutions and then funneled into Israeli business and industry. „254
Lansky's initial entree to Israel was quietly orchestrated. Word leaked out
that a wealthy "Miami philanthropist” had taken up residence in the Jewish
State. However, circumstances beyond Lansky's control made matters
difficult for the grand wizard of the underworld.
During his stay in Israel, two American grand juries (in March of 1971 and
in June of 1972) handed down indictments against Lansky and several of his
associates. The first indictment charged—correctly, of course—that Lansky
had been skimming millions from the Flamingo Hotel and Casino in Las
Vegas. The second indictment charged Lansky with income tax evasion.
There were more than a few honest, law-abiding Israelis who objected to the
"chairman of the board" staking his future in Israel, and the political