Leaked Pentagon memo claims Mossad involvement in judicial protests

Netanyahu’s office says the memo is wrong, but its existence prompts fears that the US doesn’t understand or trust Jerusalem.  

A leaked Pentagon memo published by US media alleged that the Mossad – Israel’s foreign intelligence service – spurred their own spies and the country’s citizens to participate in the mass demonstrations against the Netanyahu government’s judicial overhaul.

The New York Times and The Washington Post published the memo on Saturday.

The Prime Minister’s Office, on behalf of the Mossad, said in a statement that the reports were “false and unfounded.”

“The Mossad and its senior officials have not and are not encouraging workers at the organisation to demonstrate against the government, and participate in political demonstrations in general,” the statement added.

The top secret document - part of the trove of US security files that have made far-reaching revelations about Washington’s allies and nemeses - claimed that the spy agency “advocated for Mossad officials and Israeli citizens to protest the new Israeli Government’s proposed judicial reforms, including several explicit calls to action that decried the Israeli government, according to signals intelligence.”

While some Israeli sources cast doubt on the authenticity of the memo, the general claim is that the memo is an authentic document but that the Pentagon perception misrepresents the protests.

The New York Times noted, "The apparent authenticity of the documents, however, is not an indication of their accuracy."

Concerns about the report have focused less on the possibility of Mossad involvement with the protests and more on what the Pentagon memo says about US-Israel relations.

Some commentators suggested it could mean the US is actively and successfully spying on the Mossad’s very core, monitoring signals intelligence emerging from it.