British and American intelligence agencies have spied on Israeli government officials, as well as on diplomats and defense industry officials the French daily Le Monde reported Wednesday. The report was based on documents leaked by American whistleblower Edward Snowden. The report alleged that spying after Israel was a joint undertaking by U.K.'s Government Communications Headquarters and the National Security Agency. Snowden, a former National Security Agency subcontractor, made headlines in 2013 when he leaked classified information about numerous global surveillance programs. He fled the U.S. and has sought asylum in Russia. The report alleged Britain's GCHQ gathered intelligence via wiretapping and hacking Israeli diplomats' emails. One of the officials whose email account was hacked was described by the French daily as the "No. 2 in the Israeli Foreign Ministry." The documents revealed that Israeli ambassadors in Kenya and Nigeria, as well as private companies in or involved with the Israeli military industry, had been under surveillance. None of the officials were named in the article. The British also monitored the Israeli Agency for International Development Cooperation at the Foreign Ministry, as well as several universities research centers, specifically the Hebrew University's Racah Institute of Physics, where nuclear physics research was allegedly carried out. Le Monde further reported that in a document from 2008 stated that "the Israelis remain a real threat to the stability of the region, in particular because of the position of this country with respect to the Iranian dossier." The documents also revealed that, other than the U.S., much of the intelligence gathered about measures involving Iran and the Palestinians was shared with other foreign intelligence agencies. The leaked documents disclosed that the British also monitored the Palestinian Authority, as communications between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian delegations worldwide were also found to have been hacked between 2008 and 2009. Earlier this year, the German daily Der Spiegel reported that the GCHQ and the NSA had succeeded in collecting 18 years of drone transmissions after cracking the Israeli military's encryption for communication among fighter jets, drones and military bases, using it to monitor IDF forces in Judea and Samaria.
Whistleblower: UK, US intelligence agencies spied on Israel
Documents leaked by Edward Snowden indicate London and Washington collected intelligence on Israeli Foreign Ministry officials, diplomats, defense industry, and academic research centers • Some of the intel apparently shared with other security agencies.
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