NYT: Leaks Expose US Wiretaps on “Israeli” Officials
Local Editor
A security breach which ended over a year ago with the jailing of an "Israeli" FBI employee has exposed US attempts to spy on "Israeli" officials, a New York Times report said on Monday.
According to the report, Shamai K. Leibowitz, a self-described "Israeli" lawyer and left-wing activist, and an FBI translator leaked documents of conversations recorded at the "Israeli" embassy in Washington to liberal U.S. blogger Richard Silverstein.
The documents, according to the New York Times report, included transcriptions of phone calls made by embassy officials, which were intercepted by the FBI's Operational Technology Division.
One FBI post passed by Leibowitz to Silverstein indicated that the "Israeli" Embassy in the United States provided "regular written briefings" on "Israel's" war on Gaza intended for "President Obama in the weeks between his election and inauguration."
Another document described in the New York Times report describes "calls involving "Israeli" officials in al-Quds (Jerusalem), Chicago and Washington to discuss the views of members of Congress on "Israel"."
Yet another document described a call between "an unnamed Jewish activist" in Minnesota and the "Israeli" Embassy, concerning a meeting between an embassy official with Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison before a planned official trip to Gaza.
Richard Silverstein told the New York Times that he destroyed the documents he received from the FBI official following Leibowitz's investigation in mid-2009, saying he recalled there were "about 200 pages of verbatim records of telephone calls."
"What really concerned Shamai at the time was the possibility of an Israeli strike on Iran, which he thought would be damaging to both "Israel" and the United States," Silverstein said.
Source: News Agencies
A security breach which ended over a year ago with the jailing of an "Israeli" FBI employee has exposed US attempts to spy on "Israeli" officials, a New York Times report said on Monday.
According to the report, Shamai K. Leibowitz, a self-described "Israeli" lawyer and left-wing activist, and an FBI translator leaked documents of conversations recorded at the "Israeli" embassy in Washington to liberal U.S. blogger Richard Silverstein.
The documents, according to the New York Times report, included transcriptions of phone calls made by embassy officials, which were intercepted by the FBI's Operational Technology Division.
One FBI post passed by Leibowitz to Silverstein indicated that the "Israeli" Embassy in the United States provided "regular written briefings" on "Israel's" war on Gaza intended for "President Obama in the weeks between his election and inauguration."
Another document described in the New York Times report describes "calls involving "Israeli" officials in al-Quds (Jerusalem), Chicago and Washington to discuss the views of members of Congress on "Israel"."
Yet another document described a call between "an unnamed Jewish activist" in Minnesota and the "Israeli" Embassy, concerning a meeting between an embassy official with Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison before a planned official trip to Gaza.
Richard Silverstein told the New York Times that he destroyed the documents he received from the FBI official following Leibowitz's investigation in mid-2009, saying he recalled there were "about 200 pages of verbatim records of telephone calls."
"What really concerned Shamai at the time was the possibility of an Israeli strike on Iran, which he thought would be damaging to both "Israel" and the United States," Silverstein said.
Source: News Agencies
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