Israel’s intelligence agencies aggressively target the United States, particularly those in pursuit of military and dual-use civilian technology. Other more covert espionage efforts are directed at almost every level of government in the U.S., including those that unduly influence Congressional elections.
On January 10, 2014 the Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby provided the following readout regarding Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel’s telephone call to his counterpart in Israel Defense Minister Moshe “Bogie” Ya’alon (Hebrew: משה יעלון):
“Secretary Hagel called Israeli Minister of Defense Moshe “Boogie” Ya’alon this morning to offer his deepest condolences on the passing of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Secretary Hagel praised Prime Minister Sharon as a leader who dedicated his life to defending Israel’s security. The secretary shared with Minister Ya’alon that he greatly admired the former prime minister, and appreciated the strong relationship that they had formed during the secretary’s time in the Senate. Secretary Hagel and Minister Ya’alon reaffirmed the strength of the U.S-Israel defense relationship, and pledged to continue to work closely together on the shared challenges that the United States and Israel face” (source: DOD http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=16479).
Despite the fact that the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) considers Israeli “espionage threat” of great concern Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel reaffirmed U.S.-Israeli defense relationship and cooperation.
See article: Best of Friends? CIA considers Israel one of its biggest spy threats http://rt.com/usa/cia-mossad-israel-espionage-311/
According to one report:
“The Obama administration apparently views Israel as one of the top spying threats facing its intelligence services, according to leaked documents…A secret budget request obtained by The Washington Post from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden lumps Israel alongside U.S. foes Iran and Cuba as “key targets” for U.S. counterintelligence efforts” (source: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/171434#.UtSFZNJDtA0).
According to another report:
“The Israeli government is actively engaged in military and industrial espionage in the United States.” That was the conclusion of a Pentagon administrative judge in 2006 (source: “Over 125 investigations into Israeli Espionage in America… stopped due to political pressure.”…FBI Counter Intel Officer John Cole (source: http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/06/08/phil-giraldi-spills-the-beans-on-israeli-espionage-in-america/).