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Israeli official says detentions of 2 men ‘comedy of mistakes’

Source: Johnson Sity Press
Published: May 20, 2004 Author: Ron Scalf
For Education and Discussion Only. Not for Commercial Use.

ERWIN — Two Israeli nationals turned over last week to officials from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office will be transferred from Knoxville to Miami today to face a possible deportation hearing, an official at the Israeli consulate in Atlanta confirmed Wednesday.

Almaliach Naor, 19 and Shmuel Dahan, 22, both of Tel Aviv, Israel, were arrested May 8 near Flag Pond after taking Unicoi County Sheriff Kent Harris on a 2 1/2-mile high-speed chase in a moving truck. Harris held the duo in the Unicoi County Jail without bond after consulting with the FBI concerning possible espionage.

In his office in Atlanta, Aviz Ezra, Israeli deputy consulate general, called the entire episode “a comedy of mistakes,” emphasizing Israel’s partnership with the United States. “We have a Hebrew saying that in translation says: ‘When a cow has its first-born calf he wants to create something. . . make some noise,’ ” he said.

“There was absolutely no conspiracy involving these two men. No real threat to the United States. Not from Israel. America and Israel don’t have a lot of friends. But America and Israel have always stood together.”

Ezra criticized Harris for being overzealous in his investigation. “He’s an elected official, and this was a sexy case,” he said. “But in the end (there was) nothing to it. “It’s not my case, but my office got involved with the situation because of the nationality of the men,” he said.

“They will have to face the (immigration) charges. They will have to pay their fines and deal with the INS. You deal with these kinds of things in my position from time-to-time.”

Ezra suggested Harris shouldn’t have talked so freely with the press. “I don’t blame you. You’ve got a job to do. He’s an elected official, and he should not be making statements that he was sick to his stomach when he saw a ‘learn to fly’ brochure (it was a business card) and talking about a nuclear plant (NFS) being close to where these guys were stopped.”

And, would Harris do anything different?

“Absolutely not,” he said. “I would have done the same thing. Anybody this suspicious found three miles from a nuclear plant, you have to use extreme care. If you don’t you’re not doing your job.”

The FBI later cleared the men after failing to find them on any federal wanted lists. Harris turned the two over to immigration officials after it was discovered they were working in the United States without permission while in possession of tourist visas. They had been stopped driving a 25-foot Ryder truck filled with old furniture at a high rate of speed.

The two men said they were taking furniture to Boston from Plantation, Fla., and had reportedly been living in an apartment in Miami.

Last week, after being appointed local attorneys, the two paid small fines and court costs on misdemeanor charges of littering, producing a false ID and evading arrest. They steadfastly denied throwing anything out of the truck, but Harris said he could produce witnesses to the contrary.

Harris said several “red flags” went up during his investigation that produced a false driver’s license, a “learn to fly” business card in one of the men’s wallet and a vial of an unknown substance reportedly thrown out by one of the men during the high-speed chase. Dahan reportedly surrendered an ATM bank receipt at his booking showing a bank balance of more than $11,000 in a Florida bank. It was returned to him following his release.

Ezra said the men’s families were concerned and upset concerning their situation in the United States. Harris said it was his understanding the two would most likely be deported back to Israel in days to come.

“They are here illegally,” he said. “You can’t be a foreign national with a tourist visa and work in the United States."
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