Tikun Olam (blog) term. "The New York Times" published a front-page account of the story. Leibowitz denied the "New York Times" report. On his blog, he wrote, Contrary to what blogger Richard Silverstein told the NYT, my job never entailed listening to wiretaps of embassies, and that whole story was manufactured by Silverstein to promote his blog and his anti-Israel agenda. Tikun Olam reported on the arrest of prominent Israeli Palestinian political activists Ameer Makhoul and Omar Said by the Shin Bet, who accused them of spying against Israel on behalf of Hezbollah. According to Silverstein, neither detainee was permitted to consult an
Shin Bet unacceptable and illegal. Palestinian journalist Mohammed Omer was detained in July 2008 by Shin Bet. Having arrived on a flight from London, Omer says that he was taken aside by a Shin Bet official. According to "Democracy Now!", Omer was later questioned, strip-searched, and then beaten by eight armed Shin Bet officers. Injuries from the ordeal allegedly left Mohammed Omer in the hospital for a week. The Israeli government rejected Omer's claims outright, citing inconsistencies in his allegations and noting that such investigations are strictly regulated. Once considered a commitment to lifelong anonymity and even invisibility in Israeli society, today