Israel carried out surveillance of US forces and their allies at the US-led Civil‑Military Coordination Center in Kiryat Gat, which was established to oversee the Gaza ceasefire agreement, the Guardian reported.
According to the report, Israelis conducted extensive monitoring of U.S. troops and allied personnel stationed at the new U.S. base in southern Israel.
The scale of the alleged intelligence gathering prompted the base commander, U.S. Lt. Patrick Frank, to summon his Israeli counterpart for a meeting, telling him that “the recording has to stop here.”
Delegations and visitors from other countries also raised concerns about Israel recording inside the base, with some being advised not to share sensitive information for fear it could be used by Israel.
The U.S. military declined to comment when asked about the Israeli surveillance activity. The IDF also refused to comment on Frank’s demand to halt recording, stating that conversations at the base are unclassified.
In a statement to The Guardian, the IDF said, “The IDF documents and summarizes meetings in which it is present through protocols, as any professional organization of this nature does in a transparent and agreed-upon manner.”
“The claim that the IDF is gathering intelligence on its partners in meetings in which the IDF is an active participant is absurd.”
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
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4 Responses
Israel needs to be very grateful for everything the United States does for them. They should be licking America’s tuchus every day. Without the US the State of Israel would be in huge trouble.
Joseph Goebbels,
You should be tuned over to Germany for prosecution as an anti-Semitic Nazi, just like your close relative was. You’re not even Jewish!
It is not only Israel that needs to be grateful for the help it gets from the US. The US should be grateful to Israel as well. What Israel has done to reshape the Middle East and to combat terrorism from Hamas and from all of the terror proxies and Jihadists funded by Iran, is benefitting not just Israel, but the US and the world. So when the US backs and supports Israel it benefits greatly. It’s not a one way street. Generally what is good for Israel is good for the US as well.
Israel has every reason to be vigilant and cautious. It has the most to lose if there is a breach in security and it can’t afford to leave that to others without any involvement. Obviously this is a joint effort.