America and Israel are counted among the world's closest allies, but a new report has claimed that America is feeling the threat of espionage from its own ally Israel. For this reason, American officials adopt special security measures during their visits to Israel. According to NBC News report, the US Defense Ministry Pentagon and its intelligence agency Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) have recently prepared a new assessment of the intelligence threat related to Israel.
The report says that DIA has increased the threat level for Israel to critical i.e. extremely serious. American officials believe that Israel may try to obtain information about internal discussions related to the Iran war and America's strategy. DIA has also prepared a seven-page document in this regard, in which the incidents which gave rise to this concern are mentioned.
However, both the White House and Israel have completely rejected these claims. The Israeli Embassy said that it does not spy on American institutions or government officials. A White House official called the report completely wrong. According to the report, a few weeks ago there were discussions going on between the US administration and Iran regarding ceasefire and talks. During that time Israel was not getting complete information about the talks. In such a situation, Israel tried to gather information through regional leaders and diplomats.
American officials say that gathering intelligence information is common even among allied countries, but this time more concern has been expressed about Israel's activities. For this reason, American officials and diplomats visiting Israel are advised to take extra precautions.
The report said that many US officials use burner phones (temporary mobile phones) and clean laptops in Israel, so that their sensitive information remains safe. They also avoid important or confidential conversations in hotel rooms. A senior US official said that Israel is considered very aggressive in gathering intelligence, hence additional security measures are adopted.
Old cases have also been mentioned in the report. In the 1980s, American intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard was jailed for 30 years for passing secret documents to Israel. At the same time, in 2013, Edward Snowden's revelations also revealed that America itself spies on its allies and collects intelligence related to them.
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