Israel Demands US Stop Spying on Them

Steinitz: US Spying 'Not Acceptable'

It may sound strange given the seemingly endless series of scandals involving Israeli spying on the US, but Israeli officials are reacting to the latest reports of US spying with complete, inconsolable outrage.

“The tracking after prime ministers and defense ministers is not legitimate and not acceptable to us,” insisted Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz, while other Israeli ministers demanded that the US immediately stop all such spying.

“Its quite embarrassing between countries who are allies,” added top ranking Yisrael Beiteinu Minister Uzi Landau, who insisted that it proved the need for the US to immediately release Jonathan Pollard.

Pollard was a US citizen arrested for spying against the US on behalf of Israel and has become something of a cause celebre among Israel’s political elite, which granted Pollard Israeli citizenship a decade after his arrest and have since been demanding his release.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.