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Israel rejects accusations of spying on US

Committed never to spy on American soil, some Israeli officials consider the espionage accusations as politically motivated to damage Israel-US relations.
Tamir Pardo (L), head of Israel's spy agency Mossad, and Yoram Cohen, chief of Israel's Shin Bet internal security service, speak during a corner-stone laying ceremony for a memorial commemorating fallen soldiers on Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem April 30, 2014.  REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3N968

The rising tensions between Washington and Jerusalem have led to mutual disgust on both sides. And, as if that weren’t enough, an anti-Israeli campaign has been taking place simultaneously over the past few weeks, marking Israel as a country that frequently crosses the line of espionage against the United States. This is not a media campaign, because the media carries out its role in disseminating the information it receives from the relevant sources.

“We are talking about entities or agents within official bodies,” I was told by a high-placed diplomatic source in Jerusalem over the weekend. “They are spreading the information with precise timing so as to cause as much damage as possible to the already-rocky relations between Israel and the United States. They also want to reap side benefits such as obstructing the initiative to exempt Israelis from needing visas when visiting the United States, and blocking the initiative to free Jonathan Pollard.”

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