Two scandals are rocking the Israeli government: One arises from the former Mossad chief Meir Dagan's deadly attacks on the Netanyahu government; the other from US sanctions suddenly landing on Israel's richest plutocrats, the Ofer Brothers. Both have their roots in the Gulf oil emirate.

After the Americans drove Israel security contractors and the Mossad out of Abu Dhabi, the Ofer Brothers thought their business dealings through Palestinian middlemen were safe. US sanctions opened their eyes to this miscalculation.

debkafile's sources disclose that President Nicolas Sarkozy will decide in the coming hours whether to follow in Britain's footsteps in punishing Israel for suspicions that its security service forged the French passports used by the assassins of Hamas arms trader Mahmoud Mabhouh in Dubai on Jan. 19. London expelled an Israeli diplomat although it admitted it had no proof of Israel's culpability, which Jerusalem regards as an unfriendly act in keeping with More...