ISRAEL: WHO WILL GUARD THE GUARDIANS?

Fresh from its botched keystone-kops hit on a Hamas leader in Jordan, the Mossad, Israel’s vaunted spy agency, finds itself again looking inept. It turns out that a veteran agent of the organization has long been fabricating intelligence reports that have led the Mossad to take a hawkish view of Syria’s military intentions and capabilities. The agent, who is under investigation, claimed he based his reports on the information of a key source, a non-Arab closely tied to the inner circle in Damascus. Israeli officials now say the agent, briefly a right-wing political activist, was making up much of what he reported. They also say the agent pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars, which were to be paid to his source.

–By Lisa Beyer/Jerusalem