FBI documents revealed: How networks of arms smuggling and intelligence gathering operated for Israel on US soil
Formerly classified FBI documents, published by the Institute for Research on Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep), reveal networks of arms smuggling and intelligence gathering that operated in the US for the Jewish Yishuv and young Israel in the 1940s and 1950s. The documents detail an attempt to smuggle 65,000 pounds of TNT to Tel Aviv in 1948, the activities of Al Schwimmer, and the connections of AIPAC's founder.
Formerly classified FBI documents, published on October 21, 2026, by the Institute for Research on Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep), reveal networks that smuggled weapons and gathered intelligence in the United States for the Jewish Yishuv and young Israel in the 1940s and 1950s. The documents, obtained under the US Freedom of Information Act following a 2014 request, belong to an FBI investigation file named ISINT that dealt with Israeli intelligence services. One prominent case describes an attempt to smuggle about 65,000 pounds of TNT explosive (nearly 30 tons) from the United States to Tel Aviv in January 1948, months before the establishment of the state. The shipment was hidden in crates marked as "used machinery" and was discovered after it fell and opened at the port of Jersey City. The documents also refer to Al Schwimmer, who was convicted in 1950 for violating the Neutrality Act and later founded Israel Aerospace Industries. Also mentioned are the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which obtained documents of the Arab League, and Isaiah Leo Kohn, founder of AIPAC, who was registered as a representative of a foreign entity. The article emphasizes that these are historical files, parts of which are redacted, and do not constitute evidence of illegal activity today.