Snowden Reveal Makes Israeli Spies' Protest An American Issue

At a cybersecurity conference in Tel Aviv on Sept. 14, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the 43 Unit 8200 refusniks of "baseless slander" which "should be condemned."
Menahem Kahana AFP/Getty Images


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.

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http://nhpr.org/post/snowden-reveal-makes-israeli-spies-protest-american-issue