Spying on America is Tit-for-Tat

In a typical New York Times anti-Israel headline in today’s online edition, the editors blasted out: “Pentagon Sees Growing Espionage Threat from Israel”.

The story itself is about the U.S. Department of Defense’s decision to increase Israel’s counterintelligence threat assessment to its highest level, as Israel is believed to have eavesdropped on American negotiations with Iran. I have no inside information about these things, but my first reaction was “of course we did.”

The article points out that Israel and the United States have long known, and tolerated, that each was spying on the other. During the ongoing war with Iran, most likely Israel has, indeed, increased its efforts to eavesdrop on those American officials who are negotiating with the Iranians on behalf of the U.S.

Why shouldn’t we do so? Logic would dictate that it would make eminent good sense for us to gather whatever intelligence would be useful in our battle for survival. After all, President Trump has not maintained a consistent position regarding what the U.S. will or will not be able to accept in terms of a negotiated end to hostilities while one wrong move and Israel will be the worse for wear given that we are sitting at the end of Iran’s rifle barrels and on the receiving end of its missile trajectories as well.

According to the article, the Department of Defense declined to comment while an unnamed White House official said the account was false. Israel’s embassy in Washington also disputed claims that Israel poses a counterintelligence threat, saying that Israel does not spy on American officials or entities.

However, like every spy story there is always a lot of contradictory information that flies through the air while substantiating any of it becomes close to impossible.

What is probably true is that: (a) Israel is spying on America to try to determine what the country’s next moves will be with Iran as Israel will be directly affected by whatever is decided; (b) America is spying on Israel to try determine what our Prime Minister is really thinking about regarding the long term strategies that will directly and dramatically affect our lives; (c) given that this goes on pretty much all the time, even between allies, to say that the counterintelligence threat level has risen to its highest level is, at most, a feeling that someone in a high place has about the situation recognizing that this is, quantitatively, non-measurable by definition.

Nevertheless, it is a worrying development as it provides ammunition for those forces inside the legislative branch in the U.S. who are constantly trying to find reasons to drive a wedge between our two countries and reduce the amount of intelligence sharing and defense development that exists between us.

While both countries may regularly spy on each other, even in the face of agreements not to do so in certain circumstances, for the New York Times to say that the Pentagon sees a growing espionage threat from Israel when the facts show that what is going on is simply more of the same whereby both countries act this way towards each other, demonstrates an inherent anti-Israel bias that raises its ugly head at every opportunity.

In a post regarding international conflicts, President Trump praised Israel as a “great ally” of the U.S. and described it as “Courageous, Bold, Loyal, and Smart,” adding, “Israel fights hard, and knows how to WIN!” U.S. defense commentators and U.S. officials frequently praise Israel as “a true ally with real capabilities”, noting that the country cooperates closely with the U.S. military to confront terrorism and ensure regional stability. That we spy on each other comes with the territory and building a defamatory case against Israel for doing so only serves the needs of those who want to harm us. No ear should be provided for this drivel.