Longstanding US/UK Spying on Israeli Military Operations

by Stephen Lendman

It's no surprise. Nations routinely spy on allies and adversaries. Today's sophisticated technology makes it easier than ever.

On Friday, Israeli and Western media reported Washington and Britain accessed Israeli military aircraft video feeds - letting them monitor IDF operations in Gaza, along with watching for potential strikes on Iran.

US and UK intelligence cracked special IDF encryption years ago. They've been monitoring communications between Israeli warplanes, drones and military bases.

Edward Snowden-released NSA documents and photos revealed it. Israel expressed disappointment but not surprise, over-hyping what it called "an earthquake…the worst leak in the history of (its) intelligence."

Tracking is done from a Royal Air Force installation near Mount Olympus, the highest point on Cyprus.

An anonymous Israeli official said the breach means Washington and Britain "forcibly stripped us, and, no less important, that probably none of our encrypted systems are safe from them."

A 2008 UK intelligence (GCHQ) report called access "indispensable for maintaining an understanding of Israeli military training and operations, and thus an insight into possible future developments in the region."

"In times of crisis, this access is critical and one of the only avenues to provide up to the minute information and support to US and allied operations in the area."

The White House declined to comment, only saying spying is conducted for national security reasons. It's espionage, stealing other countries' secrets for political, economic and military advantage.

It's not about keeping us safe. America hasn't had an enemy since Japan surrendered at WW II's end.

Domestic spying has nothing to do with national security. It's for control, transforming America into a police state, its most disadvantaged citizens victimized, thousands wrongfully imprisoned for political reasons.

Earlier released Snowden documents revealed global NSA spying, at home and abroad, including on allied world leaders. Big Brother is real, no longer fiction. Privacy no longer exists.

Unconstitutional mass surveillance is standard practice. Obama escalated what his predecessors began, secretly authorizing illegal intrusions into the lives of ordinary US citizens, monitoring their electronic and telephonic communications without judicial authorization, waging war on freedom, spying more aggressively worldwide than any previous regime in history.

Netanyahu spokesman Mark Regev once ludicrously said "Israel does not spy on the United States of America."

Not according to the CIA, calling Israel America's main regional spy threat. Numerous Israeli officials are involved - with close ties to foreign military, intelligence and criminal sources.

In 2011, former CIA counterintelligence/military intelligence officer Philip Giraldi accused Israel of stealing everything it gets its hands one, including military, political, industrial, commercial, technological, economic and financial secrets.

Annual FBI reports prominently feature Israeli spying on America. Washington's Government Accountability Office (GAO) earlier said Israel "conducts the most aggressive espionage operation against the United States of any US ally."

The Pentagon accused Israel of "actively engag(ing) in military and industrial espionage in the United States. An Israeli citizen working in the US who has access to proprietary information is likely to be a target of such espionage."

Despite longstanding close ties, past and current US national security officials consider Israel a frustrating ally, a genuine counterintelligence threat.

Its technical capability and human resources match some of America's best - with direct access to top-level US political, military and intelligence sources, enlisting them to steal American secrets.

Israel gets virtually anything it wants from Washington, its intrusive spying overlooked. 

Their imperial ties matters more, longstanding partners in naked aggression and other high crimes.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. 

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. 

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