Israeli espionage on US at alarming level - report
7 May 2014, 19:53 -- Israel spies on the United States more than any other ally does and these activities have reached an alarming level, Newsweek magazine reported on Tuesday. The main targets are US industrial and technical secrets, the weekly said, quoting classified briefings on legislation that would make it easier for Israeli citizens to get visas to enter America.
Newsweek said a congressional staffer familiar with a briefing last January called the testimony 'very sobering ... alarming ... even terrifying', and quoted another as saying the behavior was 'damaging.'
'No other country close to the United States continues to cross the line on espionage like the Israelis do,' said a former congressional staffer who attended another classified briefing in late 2013, according to Newsweek.
It said that briefing was one of several in recent months given by the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department, the FBI and the National Counterintelligence Directorate, AFP reports.
The former congressional staffer said the intelligence agencies did not give specifics, but cited 'industrial espionage-folks coming over here on trade missions or with Israeli companies working in collaboration with American companies, [or] intelligence operatives being run directly by the government, which I assume meant out of the [Israeli] Embassy.'
Israel's espionage activities in America are unrivaled and go far beyond activities by other close allies, such as Germany, France, Britain and Japan, counter-intelligence agents told members of the House Judiciary and Foreign Affairs committees, Newsweek said.
Israel denies allegations of being engaged in spying on US
Israel's foreign minister on Wednesday denied allegations that his country was engaged in spying activities on US soil, following a report published in Newsweek. In the article, anonymous US officials said Israel had gone too far in its attempts to secure industrial and technical intelligence from its number-one ally, and had 'crossed red lines.'
'No other country close to the United States continues to cross the line on espionage like the Israelis do,' said a former congressional staffer who attended a classified briefing in late 2013, according to Newsweek.
But Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman denied the charges.
'We categorically reject such an accusation,' he told army radio, AFP reports.
'We're talking about lies and falsehood, simply libel which is baseless and unfounded,' Lieberman said, describing the remarks as 'malicious.'
'I am sorry that there are apparently anonymous elements in the United States who are simply trying to maliciously spread false accusations,' he said.
The minister said Israel had 'learned its lesson' from the case of Jonathan Pollard, a US naval analyst who was arrested in Washington in 1985 and sentenced to life in jail for spying on the United States for Israel.
Lieberman said Israel was not involved in any form of espionage against the United States, direct or indirect.
He also denied allegations in the Newsweek story that the alleged spying was connected to Israel's so-far futile attempts to join the US visa waiver program.
Born into a Jewish family from Texas, Pollard passed to Israel thousands of secret documents about US spy activities in the Arab world over a period of 18 months. He won Israeli citizenship in 1995 and was officially recognized as an Israeli spy three years later.
His arrest sparked a crisis in ties that only ended with Israel promising to end all espionage activities on US soil.
Source: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_05_07/Israeli- espionage-on-US-at-alarming-level-report-1329/
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
