U.S. intelligence officials told Congress members that Israel has "gone too far" with its spying in the U.S., with an emphasis on seeking industrial and technical secrets, according to a Newsweek article published on Tuesday. "Jerusalem's efforts to steal U.S. secrets under the cover of trade missions and joint defense technology contracts have 'crossed red lines,'" Newsweek reporter Jeff Stein wrote, citing a classified document. According to the report, U.S. intelligence sources tasked with counterespionage, say Israel's spying activities "go far beyond" those of other allies like Germany, France, Britain and Japan. One congressional staffer called the testimony "alarming, terrifying." Another was quoted calling it "damaging." "No other country close to the United States continues to cross the line on espionage like the Israelis do," a congressional staffer said in the report. While the intelligence officials did not give details in the report, a former congressional aide called Israel's activities "industrial espionage -- folks coming over here on trade missions or with Israeli companies working in collaboration with American companies, [or] intelligence operatives being run directly by the government, which I assume meant out of the [Israeli] Embassy." "Israel doesn't conduct espionage operations in the United States, period. We condemn the fact that such outrageous, false allegations are being directed against Israel," Israeli Embassy in Washington spokesman Aaron Sagui said in response. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Wednesday denied the claims made by Newsweek, calling them baseless and "malicious." Speaking to Israel Radio, Lieberman said Israel was not in any way involved in spying on the U.S., and that the story was likely put together by parties seeking to damage relations between the two countries. "Israel is not spying on the U.S., not directly and not indirectly," he said. The article comes after some Congress members called for allowing Israeli citizens to join the 38 other countries allowed to visit the U.S. without a visa. Some opposed to the move have said allowing waiving the visa requirement would lead to increased Israeli spying on the U.S.
