I have been anxiously awaiting the determination by the State Dept. on the status of Uzi Arad’s visa and suffice it to say, there is not a whole lot of info. out there, which says a lot in and of itself. Then, last night, I found some info. over at Tikun Olam, and it’s disheartening:

Uzi Arad is Bibi Netanyahu’s national security advisor. He is also an Israeli spy. He officially worked for the Mossad for 23 years achieving senior status. But his real claim to fame as far as Israel-U.S. relations is his intimate involvement, along with Naor Gilon, in the Rosen-Weissman spy scandal…

[snip]

As a result, Arad’s U.S. visa was revoked and the Bush administration refused to allow him entry since 2007. That was before Bibi promoted him, before Barack Obama became president, and before the administration dropped the Aipac Two spy case. Even though visa decisions are not subject to legal challenge or standards, I’m guessing Obama figured that with no case against Rosen and Weissman, it’s decision to label Arad persona non grata was moot.

Haaretz reports that Arad’s visa has been restored and that he plans to meet with his U.S. counterpart, James Jones, in Washington to lay the groundwork for Bibi’s first meeting as prime minister with Obama in June.

What is curious is that no one has written about the restoration of Arad’s visa. Interestingly, Haaretz and Eli Lake wrote about this subject when Arad was first appointed to his post and noted how problematic his lack of ability to travel to the U.S. would be. But not a word since.

I’m guessing that the Obama folks told the Israelis that they wanted total silence on this subject.