Israel's Latest Accusation of Espionage!

כ״א לחודש האחד עשר תשע״ו

The following report is the second in recent days which I thought could have been from the satirical website The Onion. But, after seeing that Arabs, the UN, and the BBC were involved, I soon realized my error.

This article is chalk filled with too much fun, to limit myself to a short concluding paragraph, and so I have interspersed  my comments between the lines in blue italics.

The Hebrew month of Adar is just around the corner!

BBC: Lebanon returns Israeli vulture cleared of spying
30 January 2016 

Image caption The vulture is now being treated at a wildlife clinic near Tel Aviv for minor injuries (AFP)

A huge vulture detained in Lebanon on suspicion of spying for Israel has been returned home after UN peacekeepers intervened, Israeli officials said. 

The bird, which has a 1.9m (6ft 5in) wing span, flew over the border from an Israeli game reserve and was caught by Lebanese villagers on Tuesday. 

They became suspicious as the griffon vulture had a tracking device attached to its tail.

Hmm... All it needs is a camera, and really could be a spy!

It is part of a conservation project to reintroduce raptors to the Middle East. 

Wildlife officials say the vulture was brought from Spain last year and set free about a month ago in the Gamla Nature Reserve in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Occupied? Apparently, the BBC is unfamiliar with the Torah, and the rest of Tana"kh (Bible), which clearly states that the Golan was Divinely Promised to Israel. And speaking of Southern Lebanon, take a closer look at the map below, and you will see that belongs to us, too.

Tribal Map of Eretz Yisra'el
(Click to enlarge)

Tel Aviv University is involved in tracking the bird, and as well as a GPS transmitter, it had tags on its wings and an engraved metal ring on its leg saying: "Tel Aviv Univ Israel". 

'Discreet operation'Wildlife officials in Israel were alerted to its capture when photos of the tied-up bird appeared on social media. 

"In a discreet operation with the Lebanese and with the great help of UN forces and the UN liaison unit, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority was able to return the vulture that was caught a few days ago by villagers of Bint Jbeil, Lebanon," an Israeli statement released on Friday said. 

The UN certainly cares more about wild birds than Jews. That's for sure! Aiding an abetting Hezbollah, in Southern Lebanon being one of this body's regular hobbies

The Lebanese media says the villagers freed the vulture after it became clear it was not on a spying mission.

I guess they were unsuccessful at finding the camera.

After its ordeal the bird was weak and was being treated for minor injuries, officials said. 

It is not the first time a griffon vulture has been taken to be an agent of the Israeli spy agency Mossad.

A stork in Egypt, rats in eastern parts of Jerusalem, and a shark are only a few examples of the many animals accused of spying for Israel.

Saudi Arabia captured one, also with a Tel Aviv University tracker, in the desert city of Hyaal in 2011, sparking rumours of a "Zionist plot" that were dismissed by Israeli officials. Share this story About sharing.

So glad to hear that "rumours of a 'Zionist plot'...were dismissed by Israel officials." Aren't you?

By the way, I cannot help but mention that the generally agreed upon word for vulture in Hebrew is"peres."

Coincidence?