Frenemies: U.S. Elites and Israel
Even though the United States is partnering with Israel to contain Iran, the American intelligence agencies are redoubling their efforts to counter the threat of Israeli spying.
On January 28th, Israel’s drone attack on an Iranian weapons factory led to the U.S. quickly distancing itself from the operation. Within hours Biden officials leaked to the New York Times the Mossad carried out the strike and quickly stressed the Biden administration had no involvement whatsoever.
Last November, Biden officials Daniel Kurtzer and Aaron David Miller called for an “unprecedented and controversial” break from America’s military and diplomatic support for Israel if “the most extreme government in the history of the state” pursues their stated goals. Including halting weapons shipments to Israel.
These aims include “efforts to change the status of the West Bank”, in effect a warning against annexation of Palestinian land to Israel. They also warned against increased military action against Arabs in the occupied territories and Israel, escalating settlement construction, and “build infrastructure for settlers that is designed to foreclose the possibility of a two-state solution.”1
Even though Israel has become a full-fledged military partner practicing joint cyber and aviation military exercises, the U.S. intelligence community put more emphasis on its Hebrew language program to spy on its ‘number-one ally’ in the Middle East.2
Koncrete Podcast interviews John Kiriakou:
Kiriakou was an analyst and case officer for the CIA and senior investigator for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the first government official to confirm waterboarding torture was used to interrogate al-Qaeda prisoners. In 2012, Kiriakou was the first CIA officer convicted of passing classified information to a reporter.
1:29:46 - Mentality of Israel / Mossad
Israelis are not allowed inside CIA headquarters ever since the Mossad gave the CIA a gift with a listening device and the offer: “You should put this in your conference room.” All meetings with Israelis are now held in offsite locations since that incident.
“The mentality in Israel is that they can’t trust anybody, including us. That if they are going to survive as a nation they have to only rely on themselves.”
Israel is like the single parent on welfare calling themselves “independent.” The real “welfare queens” are corporations and countries.
Israel Joins CENTCOM
On January 15th, 2021, the Department of Defense released UCP 2021 that shifted Israel to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) that’s responsible for the Middle East. Prior to the Abraham Accords, Israel was previously assigned to European Command (EUCOM), because it allowed CENTCOM to build a coalition among Arab allies without the complication of them working with Israel.
"Israel is coming out of the closet, allowed now to openly cooperate with the [U.S.] military while at the same time being denied access to another closet," says a senior intelligence official, referring to the world of American intelligence. The official, who requested anonymity to discuss military planning, says that for some things, such as targeting, exchanges are part of the new military alliance.
But where U.S.-Israeli interests might diverge, such as counterintelligence against Israeli spying, or uncovering secrets about Israel's own nuclear arsenal, the United States has redoubled its collection efforts.
Commander of U.S. Cyber Command, General Paul Nakasone, 2023 Posture Statement to Congress:
“We seek to outmaneuver our adversaries as they look for opportunities to exploit the United States’ dependence on data and networks in critical infrastructure, the Defense Industrial Base and private industry…
USCYBERCOM provides options to counter malicious actors who exploit cyberspace to support their intelligence operations, steal intellectual property, promote violent extremism, impair democratic processes, coerce perceived rivals and fund transnational illegal conduct…
Enhancing diversity, equality and inclusion is a priority. USCYBERCOM and NSA cannot afford to overlook or neglect talent wherever it resides nor can we allow workplace challenges of any sort to discourage professionalism or inhibit creativity.”3
Our esteemed General of Cyber Command seems to be on top of the threats to our critical infrastructure, even though he doesn’t name “Israel” explicitly. I do find it interesting he wrote “equality” and didn’t use the Marxist term “equity.”
The U.S. elites are practicing the mantra of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer. Make no mistake, the Netanyahu government is an enemy of democracy and a threat to our Constitutional Republic.
I am still of the belief that Joe Biden isn’t in charge of anything or very little. He is a blackmailed puppet that risks not only his arrest, but the prosecution of his son’s crimes as well. So, he will play ball and do as he is told.
-D.C.
I hope you enjoyed this dig on the “Biden” Administration on Israel. This is a research substack that collates evidence on a given topic. I encourage content creators to use and share this research to promote unity and give people the facts.
Additional Articles:
Winds of Change: Israel Joins the US Central Command Area | INSS Jan. 20, 2021
“On January 15, 2021 it was reported that the Trump administration decided to transfer Israel from the US European Command (EUCOM) area to the Central Command (CENTCOM). The decision, published on the eve of the change in administration in the United States, seeks to promote regional security arrangements, particularly in face of threats from Iran. Like the Abraham Accords, this decision brought to the surface deep, discreet, and longstanding relations between the parties, while narrowing gaps between policy and organization and the emerging strategic environment. Israel’s move to CENTCOM has potential benefits for the United States, Israel, militaries in the region, and the partnerships between them, alongside challenges requiring more work.”
Seeing hack attacks on the rise, Israel orders telecoms to erect 'cyber Iron Dome' | The Times of Israel May 03, 2022
Israeli communications firms were instructed Monday to bolster cybersecurity, as the government rolled out a new initiative to guard the country against online attacks amid an uptick in hacks targeting Israeli websites.
Officials rolling out the program Monday said they were hoping to create a cyber defense umbrella as effective against hackers as the Iron Dome system is against missiles.
Biden urged to threaten Israel weapons halt over far-right concerns | Israel | The Guardian Nov. 30, 2022
Two former senior US diplomats have made a highly unusual call for the Biden administration to cut weapons supplies to Israel if the incoming far-right government uses them to annex Palestinian land, expel Arabs or finally kill off the diminishing possibility of a Palestinian state.
Joe Biden Inches Toward War with Iran, Makes Israel Full Military Partner (newsweek.com) Dec. 21, 2022
As Israel has become a full-fledged military partner, the U.S. intelligence community is also putting more emphasis on its Hebrew language program to spy on its number-one Mideast ally.
For the Pentagon, Israel is the most prized military and intelligence partner in the Middle East, with its vast combat experience and advanced technologies. With the end of combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, and with the brokering of the Abraham Accords by the Trump administration, Washington sees an opportunity to incorporate Israel into a new regional alliance. The Accords established diplomatic relations between Israel and several of its Arab neighbors.
"Israel is coming out of the closet, allowed now to openly cooperate with the [U.S.] military while at the same time being denied access to another closet," says a senior intelligence official, referring to the world of American intelligence. The official, who requested anonymity to discuss military planning, says that for some things, such as targeting, exchanges are part of the new military alliance. But where U.S.-Israeli interests might diverge, such as counterintelligence against Israeli spying, or uncovering secrets about Israel's own nuclear arsenal, the United States has redoubled its collection efforts.
President Biden signed a major change of the biennial Unified Command Plan last year, codifying the change in Israel's position in U.S. military planning. The Unified Command Plan is the highest level document that determines every command's area of operations. UCP 2021 shifted Israel to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), the command responsible for the Middle East from its previous assignment as part of European Command (EUCOM). European Command oversaw the military dimensions of the special relationship, working with the country to defend it in very specific circumstances against its neighbors.
According to the Pentagon, the previous system of special channels outside the Middle East allowed CENTCOM to build a coalition among Arab allies without having the complication of a relationship with Israel—a sworn enemy to many of those countries. But it segregated Israel from formally partnering with CENTCOM and contingency planning against a common enemy.
"CENTCOM will now work to implement the U.S. Government commitment to a holistic approach to regional security and cooperation with our partners," the Tampa-based command said after it was given responsibility over Israel.
Frenemies: US-Israel Spy Strains Emerge Over Iran (spytalk.co) Feb. 04, 2023
It didn’t take long for the United States to distance itself from Israel's Jan. 28 drone attack on an Iranian weapons factory in the city of Isfahan. Just a few hours later, U.S. officials leaked to the New York Times that Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency had carried out the strike, making sure to stress the Biden administration had no involvement whatsoever.
By contrast, Israel still hasn’t taken credit for the attack. According to former intelligence officials in both countries, the apparent urgency with which the Americans fingered Israel, plus several other Iran-related developments, points to renewed tensions between the CIA and Mossad over Biden administration efforts to revive the 2015 Iran’s nuclear deal, even as the two countries hold joint military exercises meant to warn Tehran not to develop a nuclear weapon.
2023 POSTURE STATEMENT OF GENERAL PAUL M. NAKASONE > U.S. Cyber Command > News Mar. 07, 2023
USCYBERCOM persistently engages adversaries, countering cyber actors and their affiliates who are seeking to harm the United States, its interests and its allies. Skilled and dangerous cyber actors exist, many of them serving foreign military and intelligence organizations. USCYBERCOM provides options to counter malicious actors who exploit cyberspace to support their intelligence operations, steal intellectual property, promote violent extremism, impair democratic processes, coerce perceived rivals and fund transnational illegal conduct…
Russia’s military and intelligence cyber forces are skilled and persistent. Russia has attempted to influence elections, through malign activities, in the United States and Europe and has enabled intelligence collection on a global scale. Moscow has a high tolerance for risk and collateral damage in its cyber operations. This boldness is evident in Russia’s indiscriminate cyberattack on Viasat satellite communications in Ukraine and across Europe in support of the invasion of Ukraine last year…
Enhancing diversity, equality and inclusion is a priority. USCYBERCOM and NSA cannot afford to overlook or neglect talent wherever it resides nor can we allow workplace challenges of any sort to discourage professionalism or inhibit creativity.
U.S.-Israel tensions rise after standoff between Biden and Netanyahu : NPR Mar. 29, 2023
JERUSALEM — Israel accused the United States of inappropriately intervening in its internal affairs as the fallout continues from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's attempt to increase his far-right coalition's say in how judges are chosen…
Signs the two administrations may not be on the same page
The situation poses diplomatic and political challenges for both leaders. Israel is a key security ally and major recipient of U.S. military assistance — billions of dollars a year coming under an agreement made with the Obama administration, in which Biden was vice president.
But since Netanyahu was elected last fall, there have been a series of exchanges with the White House showing they weren't on the same page on Israeli plans to expand Jewish settlements on occupied territory in the West Bank and Israel's use of force in tracking down militants.
The Biden administration has been under pressure from progressive Democrats to punish Israel for its policies affecting Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and U.S. Jewish groups have voiced concern over Netanyahu's proposals for the courts.
Bipartisan bill would ‘arm Taiwan to the teeth’ with US cyber tech (yahoo.com) Apr. 21, 2023
WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of lawmakers wants to apply U.S. cybersecurity technologies and techniques in defense of Taiwan, a target of Chinese influence campaigns, digital onslaughts and potential military takeover.
Sens. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., and Mike Rounds, R-S.D., and Reps. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., and Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., on April 20 introduced the Taiwan Cybersecurity Resiliency Act, which would require the Pentagon to intensify its cyber outreach and collaboration with the much-discussed independent island.
Such expanded partnership would involve training exercises and the eradication of malicious cyber activity, according to Rosen, who mentioned the legislation in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing featuring the the top U.S. military commander in the Indo-Pacific, Navy Adm. John Aquilino.
China considers Taiwan a renegade province and has vowed to retake it by force, if necessary. The U.S. has for decades supplied Taiwan with military hardware and software worth billions of dollars. The Taiwanese government has previously said its agencies are peppered by thousands of cyberattacks each week.
US House speaker in Knesset amid fraught US-Israel ties - ABC News (go.com) May 1, 2023
McCarthy spoke to the Knesset, greeted by frequent applause and a standing ovation, as lawmakers returned from a month-long recess. They are expected to resume the fight over a contentious plan, promoted by the most right-wing government in Israel's history, to overhaul the judiciary.
The plan has split Israelis and drawn a rare public rebuke from Biden. Amid the tensions, Biden has so far denied Netanyahu a typically customary invitation to the White House after his election win late last year.
In a challenge to Biden, McCarthy said Monday he expects the White House “to invite the prime minister over for a meeting, especially with the 75th anniversary” of Israel’s independence. He said he would invite Netanyahu to speak to Congress if Biden doesn’t.