Israeli Intelligence Community: US Leads Intense Espionage Efforts In Israel

– A new book by an Israeli government-financed security agency asserts that the United States has been engaged in human and electronic surveillance of Israel.

The book, titled Masterpiece: An Inside Look at Sixty Years of Israeli Intelligence, asserts that American espionage agencies operate from the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv and target Israelis as well as strategic facilities.

“The United States has been after Israel’s non-conventional capabilities and what goes on at the decision-making echelons,” the book, published by the Israel Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Center and located on the net at www.intelligence.org.il, said.

The book, containing prefaces written by the heads of Israel’s intelligence community, documents that the United States has focused on the secret the Jewish state’s nuclear program.

In a chapter by retired Israel Security Agency officer Barak Ben-Zur, the book said U.S. intelligence also uses electronic surveillance and other methods to spy on Israeli government meetings.

Mr. Ben Zur was the former head of counterterrorism unit for Israeli military intelligence. He served until recently as the special assistant to the director of the Israeli Security Agency.

This book marks the first time that an official Israeli publication has acknowledged U.S. spy efforts and claims that the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv has a special team to spy on Israel.

Mr. Ben-Zur said the U.S. team has engaged in “methodical intelligence gathering.”

It is not clear as to whether Israeli intelligence would seek to exchange an American intelligence agent in Israel to obtain the release of Jonathan Pollard, an Israeli intelligence agent who has been held in American prisons since 1985.

David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com.