Arabic media: Tzipi Livni extorted prominent Arabs with sex!

Hubba-hubba!

This story is literally all over the Arabic media based on an original at Egypt's major newspaper Al Masry Al Youm, but the only English translation so far is this one from Gulf Daily News:

Former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni said she had been involved in several special operations during her work with Mossad which involved sexual relations with prominent personalities to extort information for the Israeli intelligence agency. Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth quoted Livni as telling Time magazine in an interview that she never minded having sex and committing murders to obtain intelligence to benefit her country.

She said she was prosecuted in a number of European countries for murders and sexual extortion but was able to get away due to her government's influence.

The Arabic versions helpfully add:

The former leader of the opposition Kadima party justified the fact that she wasn't involved in any romantic relationship throughout those years, by saying that these kinds of relationships require trust and faith between the spouses and she couldn't build such a relationship with anyone. She said: "Nevertheless, short, passing relationships don't cause pain or damage, if both sides abide by the rules."

Israeli media is amused, noting that Livni had a 2009 interview with the Times of London where she said the exact opposite, that she would never have sex with the enemy when she was in the Mossad. It also quotes a friend of Livni's who says that she was amused by the "revelation."

To its credit, Shorouk News reported that the article was fabricated.

Al Masry al Youm is actually one of the more reliable Egyptian media outlets, which gives you an idea of how reliable Arabic media is altogether.

No correction yet on the Al Masry al Youm website.

(h/t Al Gharqad)