New Snowden files rank Israel as ‘aggressive’ cyber threat

Newly-released classified documents from  whistleblower Edward Snowden show the CIA sees Israeli cyber spies as “aggressive” actors that pose the third highest threat to the United States.

The latest tranche of papers published by journalist Glenn Greenwald reveals a CIA-led National Intelligence Estimate on cyber threats in 2013 “ranked Israel the third most aggressive intelligence service against the US,” behind only China and Russia.

It comes at a time of tension between the two allies, with Israeli leaders saying they no longer spy on the US, as they seek the release of Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard from an American prison.

Media outlet ‘Newsweek’ recently became the latest publisher of Snowden archives when it ran two high-profile stories showing wide-ranging espionage against the US.

In response, Yuval Steinitz, Israel’s Strategic and Intelligence Affairs Minister, last week met US Intelligence Committee chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, telling her that Israel did not spy on the US.

After the meeting, Feinstein said she took his assurances at face value but added that she would still investigate, saying: “I’ll be doing my own due diligence on this one.”