http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/171434#.UiB9QUr9WqE
The Obama administration apparently views Israel as one of the top spying threats facing its intelligence services, according to leaked documents which were exposed Thursday.
A secret budget request obtained by The Washington Post from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden lumps Israel alongside U.S. foes Iran and Cuba as “key targets” for U.S. counterintelligence efforts.
According to The Hill, the document leaked by Snowden suggests that Israel does not believe U.S. assurances that its interests are aligned with Israel’s on crucial issues such as Iran and peace talks with the Palestinian Authority.
“To further safeguard our classified networks, we continue to strengthen insider threat detection capabilities across the Community,” reads the FY 2013 congressional budget justification for intelligence programs. “In addition, we are investing in target surveillance and offensive CI [counterintelligence] against key targets, such as China, Russia, Iran, Israel, Pakistan and Cuba.”
The White House and the Israeli Embassy did not respond to requests for comment.
The revelations come as no surprise to Georgetown University’s Paul Pillar, who retired as the national intelligence officer for the Near East in 1995 after a 28-year career in U.S. intelligence.
Israeli spying, he told The Hill, has remained a major threat since U.S. citizen Jonathan Pollard received a life sentence in 1987 in a massive spying case that gravely strained relations between the two countries.
“Israel should be assumed to continue to have an aggressive intelligence collection operations against the United States,” Pillar said. While much information is collected through traditional political contacts, he said, “I would personally have no doubt that that is supplemented by whatever means they can use to find out as much as they can about what we’re doing, thinking, deciding on anything of interest to Israel, which would include just about any Middle Eastern topic.”
The issues of continued Israeli construction in Judea and Samaria and Obama’s strong interest in reaching a negotiated settlement to avoid a confrontation with Iran over its nuclear program, Pillar said, are two issues where U.S. and Israeli interests “certainly diverge.”
Spying, he said, could give Israel “warning indicators” before any public decisions, and enable the country to put its “political machine in action” and get the United States to reconsider.
“If I were in [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu’s shoes and had his perspective,” Pillar said, “I would spare no effort to try to collect every bit of intelligence I could, in secret as well as openly.”
He said the public revelations won’t impact U.S.-Israeli relations.
“Everything is trumped by political realities,” Pillar said. “Don’t expect any statement by the White House press secretary tomorrow that says, ‘Oh my gosh, we are really upset with the Israelis for trying to spy on us’. You’re never going to hear anything like that, because politically it is hazardous for basically any American politician – and certainly an incumbent American administration – to underscore … the divergence of U.S. and Israeli interests.”
The leaks by Snowden have thus far mostly strained the United States’ relations with Russia.
If they catch any Americans spying they should imprison them for life, or else exchange them for Pollard, who was unjustly sentenced to life by the anti-semitic judge, Aubrey Robinson.
Another thanks to national hero Snowden for revealing how treacherous our government is. First we learn thanks to him that the NSA is spying on all of us. Now we learn that Obama and his criminal gang place Israel along side Iran and Cuba as key targets of counter intelligence. Why worry about Iran’s nuclear weapons? It’s those pesky Jews we have to worry about according to Obama.
Minister Sa’ar: Israel won’t return to 1967 lines
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4424191,00.html
Is this deliberately vague? Will they accept the demands after the talks are renewed(they are already renewed). Perhaps it means they will not return because they will give swaps to stay where they are? This says nothing.
Insist?? Most negotiators start out insisting. Jerusalem can be united and undivided but smaller because some is given away and some is designated as sovereign to others such as a large diplomatic compound for a pal parliament, diplomatic housing, jordanian purchased land near “al aksa”, etc. . More talk that says nothing, words that can mean anything.
Beliefs are nice but can you eat them or take them to the bank? How about “we will not evacuate jewish settlements…” Even that is double-talk because if you give land swaps for settlements there is no evacuation. The outposts will be left behind with jews given a choice of staying or leaving or they can be torn down for violation of building permits. Words, words , words.
The Israeli effort, weather true or not, is well founded as the BHO administration has proven to be a more dangerous enemy to the State of Israel than even the Islamofascists for while the latter openly declare their intention to obliterate us, BHO and co. pretend to be our friends. The latter we can directly appose but we are reliant on our “good friend” BHO and co. A far greater existential threat is the friend who is no friend than is the enemy who is clearly the enemy.
And what is sinister about Israel wanting to get information on issues that directly effect it? Certainly America is also spying on Israel.
Paranoia!!