Amiram Nir

Amiram's garden in Ramat Gan

Amiram Nir (Hebrew: עמירם ניר‎; 8 December 1950 – 30 November 1988) was an Israeli journalist. He had also been a terrorism advisor to two Israeli prime ministers, and played a role in the Iran-Contra Affair.[1] He married Judy Shalom Nir-Mozes in 1982.[2]

Career

Nir served as Shimon Peres' campaign manager in 1977 and as party spokesman for Peres' party. He subsequently became a correspondent for Israeli television,[3] and in 1982 was military correspondent for Channel One.[2] He also rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Israel Defense Forces reserves.[3]

In November 1984 Nir was appointed to the new post of counterterrorism advisor under Prime Minister Shimon Peres, remaining in the position under Peres' successor Yitzhak Shamir.[3] In the position of Counter-terrorism Advisor Nir played a key role in the Israeli response to the 1985 Achille Lauro hijacking.[3]

Nir also played a role in the Iran-Contra Affair.[4][5][6][7] When the matter became public in late 1986 he was forbidden by the Israeli government from speaking to US authorities.[3] He resigned from the Israeli government in March 1987,[3] after public criticism of his role in the affair (and with his US contact Oliver North attempting to pin the blame on Nir) made him feel "neutralized of his authority".[8] In mid-1988 Nir spoke to Bob Woodward of the Washington Post, saying that he was considering how best to sell the Irangate story.[3]

After leaving the government Nir opened a London office for an Israeli security firm, and arranged arms and oil contracts for Mexican buyers. On 30 November his chartered Cessna developed engine trouble and crashed, apparently killing him (some reports maintain Nir had been killed previously in Mexico City).[3] After Nir's death, "a systematic series of burglaries," carried out by professionals who were never caught, targeted documents relating to the Iran-Contra Affair. One of the burglary targets was the home of Nir's widow.[9] One of two survivors of the plane crash, the Canadian Adriana Stanton, said in an Israeli television interview in 2009 that she had seen Nir alive and well after the crash.[10] On a different Israeli television program in 2014, Nir's son Nimrod stated that after years of investigating his father's death, he believed it was an assassination and suggested then-U.S. Vice President George H. W. Bush as an immediate suspect.[10]

References

  1. ↑ Larry Rohter, 6 December 1988, New York Times, Nir's Fatal Mexico Visit Called a Business Trip
  2. 1 2 Sara Leibovich-Dar, Haaretz, 26 February 2003, She who must be obeyed
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Ephraim Kahana (2006), Historical Dictionary of Israeli Intelligence, Scarecrow Press, p210-212
  4. ↑ Walsh, Lawrence E. (August 4, 1993). Final Report of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters. Volume I: Investigations and Prosecutions. Washington, D.C.: United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit / United States Government Printing Office. pp. 17–22. ISBN 0160430097. OCLC 612998360. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  5. ↑ Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 5 October 1992, Amiram Nir’s Widow Does Not Know How Abc Got Iran-contra Document
  6. ↑ Mitch Ginsburg, The Times of Israel, 30 September 2013, When Rouhani unwittingly told an Israeli agent how to deal with Iran
  7. ↑ ynetnews.com, 26 June 2013, Rohani in 1986: West too soft on Khomeini
  8. ↑ Bergman (2008:128-129)
  9. ↑ Ronen Bergman (2008), The Secret War with Iran: The 30-Year Clandestine Struggle Against the World's Most Dangerous Terrorist Power, Simon & Schuster, p112
  10. 1 2 Israeli counterterror chief’s son blames US for his 1988 assassination, Times of Israel, 31 May 2014
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