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- Former US general with Israeli links probed for Qatar ties
Former US general with Israeli links probed for Qatar ties
Allen reportedly took credit for persuading Qatar to sign a $72m contract with an Israeli firm
Ret. Gen. John R. Allen, who is known in Israel for drafting the most detailed blueprint ever of a hypothetical Israeli-Palestinian two-state solution, is under investigation for secretly lobbying on behalf of Qatar.
The retired Marine, and former commander of US troops in Afghanistan, is also being investigated for attempts to withhold evidence related to the probe, The New York Times (NYT) reported.
In 2014, Allen was tasked with creating a security plan to accompany a potential Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. While that never materialized, his security outline won praise from leading Israeli defense officials at the time.
Court documents quoted by NYT showed that Allen had business ties with Fifth Dimension, an Israeli security firm previously led by Israel’s current defense minister Benny Gantz.
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Fifth Dimension – which developed intelligence-gathering technologies – reportedly agreed to pay Allen $10,000 a month plus a 1.5 percent commission on any new business deals he generated.
According to the report, Allen took credit for persuading Qatar to sign a $72m contract with the Israeli company.
The report noted that the probe into Allen was a “broad investigation by the Justice Department and the [Federal Bureau of Investigations] into the influence that wealthy Arab nations like Qatar, the [UAE] and Saudi Arabia held in Washington.”
A spokesperson for Allen told NYT that he “voluntarily cooperated with the government’s investigation… Allen’s efforts with regard to Qatar in 2017 were to protect the interests of the United States and the military personnel stationed in Qatar.”
Allen allegedly lobbied for Qatar at a time when the small, rich kingdom was under a blockade by its Arab neighbors Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.