There was the ludicrous accusation last year by Egypt of Mossad-trained attack sharks to hurt their tourism industry. Then there was the rock accused by Lebanon of being an Israeli listening device.
Now Saudi Arabia is getting in on the action. They report, according to the Israelis, that a vulture has been detained for being Mossad spy. Like the rock in Lebanon, the Saudi proof of a nefarious plot comes from a clearly-labeled tag on the bird:
A vulture tagged by scientists at Tel Aviv University has strayed into Saudi Arabian territory, where it was promptly arrested on suspicion of being a Mossad spy, Israeli and Saudi media reported Tuesday.
The bird was found in a rural area of the country wearing a transmitter and a leg bracelet bearing the words “Tel Aviv University”, according to the reports, which surfaced first in the Israeli daily Ma’ariv.
Although these tags indicate that the bird was part of a long-term research project into migration patterns, residents and local reporters told Saudi Arabia’s Al-Weeam newspaper that the matter seemed to be a “Zionist plot.”
The vulture also flew in a strange circular pattern, indicating it possible CIA connections. One of its wings was shorter than the other, which suggests German BND training, and a slightly larger beak than normal says the French DGSE probably raised the bird.
Either the Israelis are really doing a good job of feeding neighboring states misinformation to make them “cry wolf” until they lose all credibility, or they are feeding the rest of the world misinformation about their neighbor states…or those countries are coming up with these stories all on their own and Israel is more than happy to share them.
Although I searched Saudi and Arab news sources, I found no mention at all about the vulture. Nothing on Al Jazeera (they headlined a story on “risky cuts” that led to the BP Gulf disaster). I guess you could say the only thing even close on Al Jazeera is a story about a foiled Turkey ‘hijacking’.
I did, however, find a million or so American sites repeating the Israeli story.