Interviews with Daniel Pipes
Spying
on Friends: The U.S. and Israel
by Machla Abramovitz
Mishpacha
August 5, 2015
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The extent to which the US spies on
friendly countries, including Israel, was exposed in 2013 by former CIA
contractor Edward Snowden. Almost four years earlier, in a top secret
document, the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Court approved
certification giving the National Security Agency (NSA) the right to
conduct surveillance on over 190 foreign governments and entities. So
while Jonathan Pollard was given a life sentence for passing classified
information to an ally (Israel), what do the revelations of the NSA imply
about the US spying on Israel?
Political pundit Daniel Pipes has extensively
researched the underbelly of the covert relationship between the US
and Israel. From his hotel room in Stockholm, Sweden, he explained the
complex nature of this relationship, as well as Pollard's activities and
subsequent sentencing within this broader context. - M.A.
Answer: Let me begin by stating that Pollard committed a crime
and should have been punished for doing so, but in a proportionate way.
What Pollard did was particularly unimpressive compared to convicted
spies like John Anthony Walker, who for decades gave away highly
sensitive submarine information to the Soviets.
The court's stiff response can be attributed in part to Secretary of
Defense Caspar Weinberger, who caused the US lawyers to renege on a plea
bargain deal struck with Pollard. But Weinberger wasn't alone in
demanding and insisting on maintaining this extraordinary sentence.
According to AIPAC former policy director Steven Rosen, there is a
belief that comes out of FBI counterintelligence that Israel had
penetrated US intelligence and that this spy ring had to be flushed out.
Pollard was viewed as the visible part of this ring. This theory might
explain why all US intelligence operatives continued to insist that
Pollard not be released, even after Weinberger was no longer a force.
Q: On August 29, 2013, Edward Snowden released a document to
the Washington Post exposing US funding of its huge spy network.
In it, Israel joins China, Russia, Iran, and Cuba as priority targets.
Does this further underscore US hypocrisy vis-à-vis Pollard?
A: The US-Israel mutual spying history goes back a long way, to
even before the establishment of the state. In the mid-'80s, there was
even a reverse Pollard case. Intelligence officer Major Yosef Amit, who
had close associations to the Shin Bet, was recruited by CIA officer Tom
Waltz, and subsequently supplied him with classified information
concerning troop formations and policies regarding the territories and
Lebanon. In 2004, Israel's navy intercepted an American spy submarine and
chased it out of its territorial waters.
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Condoleezza Rice had
a lead role in American spying on Israel.
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One of the most damaging pieces of evidence of US spying on Israel was
found in a 2008 memorandum, revealed by WikiLeaks, in which Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice signed off on highly sensitive military and
political information related to Israeli security. The Snowden
revelations, though, remain the most comprehensive and specific. The NSA
documents he made available reveal the strong collaborative relationship
between the NSA and the Israel SIGINT National Unit (ISNA), wherein the
NSA turns over to its Israeli counterpart raw, unfiltered data to
analyze. But they similarly expose the agency's tracking of
"high-priority Israeli military targets" such as drones and its
Black Sparrow missile system and the fact that a National Intelligence
Estimate ranked Israel's intelligence services third most aggressive
against the US.
Prime Minister Netanyahu is also being personally targeted. Knowing
this, he intentionally makes himself obscure. He has no private phone,
doesn't send e-mails, and has no computer in his office. His most
sensitive conversations take place in Mossad offices and even then he's
prone to using hand gestures, writing down commands, and speaking in
code. He won't even clarify what the code means, much to the dismay of
Israeli officials.
Q: Over the years, the Pollard case has remained a constant
irritant to the Israeli-US relationship. Will Pollard's release ease the
tensions between the two countries?
A: It won't do anything. Had it come at a different time when
the stakes were lower, it could have been used by the Obama administration
in some way to change opinion. But, given the enormity of the Iran deal
and the triviality of this, I can't see how anyone will approve the Iran
deal based on this gesture.
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