The United States and Israel share the same values and a common commitment to democracy and freedom. Israel is America's most reliable friend and only democratic ally in the Middle East, one of the world's most volatile and important regions.[see]
Beyond such rhetoric, Israel and the US are indeed closely connected in many ways. Nearly as many Jews live in the US (5.4 million) as in Israel (5.9 million). The militaries of the two countries specifically are closely linked, with the U.S. providing Israel some $3 billion in military aid each year, most of which is spent on US manufactured weapons. The two nations have a free trade agreement. [see] Congress routinely passes resolutions and laws in support of Israel with near unanimity, and the U.S. has protected Israel against unfriendly resolutions by the United Nations Security Council with its veto 42 times. [see]
In seeming contradiction to this unwavering friendship between Israel and the US on August 29, 2013 the Washington Post carried the following, based on an excerpt from the NSA budget as leaked by Edward Snowden:
U.S. intelligence officials take an active interest in friends as well as foes. Pakistan is described in detail as an "intractable target," and counterintelligence operations " are strategically focused against [the] priority targets of China, Russia, Iran, Cuba and Israel ." The latter is a U.S. ally but has a history of espionage attempts against the United States. [emphasis added] [see]
NSA Counterintelligence on Israel by L. Toenjes
What? Israel is one of five countries upon which the NSA "strategically focused" counterintelligence operations? This doesn't sound right. It contradicts the standard story. What's going on? They're spying on us ? Unbelievable!
The Edward Snowden Revelations about NSA Surveillance
On June 5, 2013 the Guardian carried the headline "NSA collecting phone records of millions of Verizon customers daily." The lead article, by Glenn Greenwald, began as follows:
The National Security Agency is currently collecting the telephone records of millions of US customers of Verizon, one of America's largest telecoms providers, under a top secret court order issued in April.
The order, a copy of which has been obtained by the Guardian, requires Verizon on an "ongoing, daily basis" to give the NSA information on all telephone calls in its systems, both within the US and between the US and other countries.
The document shows for the first time that under the Obama administration the communication records of millions of US citizens are being collected indiscriminately and in bulk--regardless of whether they are suspected of any wrongdoing.
This was followed by another story in the Guardian the following day - June 6, 2013 - by Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskil with the heading "NSA Prism program taps in to user data of Apple, Google and others."
The National Security Agency has obtained direct access to the systems of Google, Facebook, Apple and other US internet giants, according to a top secret document obtained by the Guardian.
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