Snowden Leak Reveals US, UK Spied on Israeli Military
Classified documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden revealed that a joint U.S. and U.K. intelligence program has been spying on electronic feeds within Israel's military since 1998.
According to a report published in The Intercept, American and British intelligence officials have been secretly tapping into live video feeds from Israeli drones and fighter jets for almost 20 years. This allowed them to monitor Israel's military operations in Gaza and Lebanon, as well as Israel's drone technology.
The program, which was codenamed "Anarchist," also granted U.K. and U.S. intelligence officials regular access to Israeli cockpit cameras as their drones hit militant targets.
According to documents leaked by the American whistleblower, Israeli drones were also monitored for any signs that Israel might be preparing to take military action against Iran.
Although Israel takes pride in its technology, the ability of the U.K. and the U.S. to hack the nation's encrypted military communications and operations revealed vulnerability. The data also raised the possibility that other nations had been able to crack the same codes.
However, Israel's energy minister Yuval Steinitz minimized the gravity of the issue.
"I do not think that this is the deepest kingdom of secrets, but it is certainly something that should not happen, which is unpleasant," he told Israel's Army Radio, according to The Guardian. "We will now have to look and consider changing the encryption, certainly."
The Israeli cabinet minister also voiced disappointment at the revelations, which might further complicate the U.S. alliance with Israel.
"We are not surprised; we know that the Americans spy on every country in the world and on us as well, on their friends," Steinitz said, according to ABC News . "It is nevertheless disappointing because among other reasons, we haven't been spying or collecting intelligence or cracking codes in the United States for decades."