Snowden Reveal Makes Israeli Spies' Protest An American Issue
Last Friday, 43 veteran and reserve members of Israel's secretive spy organization, Unit 8200, claimed they'd been directed to spy on Palestinians for coercion purposes.
The group signed an open letter of protest to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and to the head of the Israeli army, accusing the spy agency of targeting innocent Palestinians and collecting data for political purposes, not national security.
Dubbed the "refusniks," the veterans declared that they had a "moral duty" to no longer "take part in the state's actions against Palestinians."
The source of much of the Israeli data may be the U.S. National Security Agency.
Author and journalist James Bamford interviewed NSA leaker Edward Snowden in Moscow this summer. Bamford tells NPR's Arun Rath that Snowden was eager to discuss documents that show a U.S. agreement to routinely share information with Israel and Unit 8200.
The information includes the content and metadata of phone calls and emails from Palestinian-Americans living in the U.S., in an agreement reached in 2009, according to The Guardian.
The agreement calls for the material to be "raw" or unredacted, meaning names and personal information have not been taken out — "which is extremely unusual," Bamford says. "They don't even do that with their closest partners, like the British."
It's not clear if information from the NSA was used in the operations the 43 veterans are blowing the whistle on, but Unit 8200 veterans say Israeli spies search intelligence for sexual orientation, infidelity and other indiscretions that could be used against Palestinians living in the Mideast.
Unit 8200 is "using that to blackmail, basically, to coerce innocent Palestinians into working for Israel," Bamford says. According to the veterans' letter, "A lot of it was simply being used for political reasons. It was given to politicians for their individual use. They felt that they were involved in political operations as opposed to defense operations."
Israeli backlash against the 43 veterans has been sharp. The defense minister has called their actions "criminal," and The Guardian reports Netanyahu accused them of "baseless slander" which "should be condemned."
Two hundred other members of Unit 8200 signed a counter-letter defending the agency.
"It is not clear, however, what charges the men and women could face," writes The Guardian's Peter Beaumont. "The 43 took legal advice from a prominent lawyer to ensure their letter and testimonies did not break the law, including by revealing their identities." Those who sign the letter only use their ranks, first names or initials.
"The text of the letter and most serious allegations were also submitted to the Israeli authorities before publication on Friday," Beaumont writes.
Bamford says the NSA is untrustworthy and that Americans should be concerned about its activities. Bamford, who used to work for the NSA, is the author of many books about U.S. intelligence, including The Shadow Factory.
"You have a lot of Palestinian-Americans who happen to live in the United States, and if their private communications with relatives in Israel and occupied Palestine, then that puts them at great risk, puts their relatives at great risk," he says. "If they talk about confidential things in an email, or in a telephone call, what right does the U.S. government have to give that information to a government that's basically hostile to them?"
9(MDE1MTIxMDg0MDE0MDQ3NTY3MzkzMzY1NA001))
Transcript
ARUN RATH, HOST:
You don't typically hear of spies taking a public stand. But earlier this month, 43 veterans of an Israeli spy agency, known as Unit 8,200, signed an open letter of protest. They accuse the spy agency of targeting innocent Palestinians and collecting data for political purposes, not national security.
The Israeli military is investigating the allegations, but says it may discipline the veterans who signed the letter. What makes this of more than passing interest to Americans is this - under an agreement reached in 2009, the National Security Agency has been routinely sharing information with Unit 8,200. That's according to documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
Journalist James Bamford has been writing about the NSA for over 30 years. This summer, he interviewed Edward Snowden in Moscow for Wired. Bamford says Snowden was eager to discuss this unique relationship between the U.S. and Israel.
JAMES BAMFORD: Well, he was very adamant that the public should get an understanding of the fact that the NSA sends to Israel a lot of the data it picks up in the United States. And virtually all of it is unredacted. In other words, they leave the names and personal identifying information of Americans in the data, which is extremely unusual. They don't even do that with their closest partners like the British.
RATH: Is this data sharing still going on or has it ended? Do we have any idea?
BAMFORD: Well, as far as I know, it's still going on. It was signed in 2009. And the information that was leaked by Snowden was just last year. So I didn't see that there was any indication that this had stopped.
RATH: Now, there are terrorist groups that target both Israel and the U.S. Is this sharing about targeting those people and covering plots like that?
BAMFORD: Well, according to the agreement, it doesn't specify any particular reason. It just says the U.S. will share with Israel all the information it picks up in terms of its collection. It doesn't say for this particular reason.
And as a matter of fact, the veterans who basically said they weren't going to do this anymore last week - 43 veterans at Unit 8,200 said there was virtually no supervision. And that was the problem - that this information is being used by Unit 8,200 for things like looking for sexual activity, indiscretions and so forth and then using that to blackmail - basically to coerce innocent Palestinians into working for Israel.
RATH: Do we know that that is information that came from United States sources - from NSA data?
BAMFORD: Well, we don't know. What normally happens is information from the U.S. gets co-mingled with information that Israel picks up. And there didn't seem to be any indication that there was a segregation of U.S. communications.
So it seems like whatever the U.S. was sending to Israel was accessible to any of the analysts, like the 43 who decided that they were going to become whistleblowers. And what they said was that the information wasn't being used for the defense of Israel. A lot of it was simply being used for political reasons. It was given to politicians for their individual use. So that was another thing that they complained about was the fact that they felt that they were involved in political operations as opposed to defense operations.
RATH: What do you see as the broader implications for this revelation when it comes to the NSA's data collection on American citizens?
BAMFORD: Well, the broad implication is the NSA is simply not trustworthy to handle this information because they are required to protect the American public not expose them to foreign intelligence service. And the problem here is that you have a lot of Palestinian-Americans who happen to live in the United States.
And if their private communications with relatives in Israel and occupied Palestine - then that puts them at great risk - puts their relatives at great risk if they talk about confidential things in an e-mail or in a telephone call. What right does the U.S. government have to give that information to a government that's basically hostile to them?
RATH: That's James Bamford. He's a journalist and author of many books about U.S. intelligence, including "The Shadow Factory." James, thanks very much.
BAMFORD: My pleasure. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
300x250 Ad
300x250 Ad