US authorities are investigating an aide to a senior Pentagon official who allegedly passed classified White House policy documents on Iran to Israel, with the help of employees of a powerful pro-Israel lobby, a US official has confirmed.
The probe targets an individual in the office of Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith, the third-most senior official at the Pentagon, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The FBI believes the man received no money but acted out of ideological support for the Jewish state, the official said.
The aide is thought to have passed the information to Israel via at least one person tied to an influential lobby group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the official said.
Israeli officials and an AIPAC spokesman denied the allegations.
Senior Israeli officials quoted by public radio in Jerusalem said Israel had not conducted intelligence gathering activities on US soil for years.
"This case is very bizarre and we don't know what it's about," one Israeli official said.
"We deny these allegations," the Israeli embassy in Washington said in a short written statement. "The United States is Israel's most cherished friend and ally. We have a strong, ongoing, working relationship at all levels and in no way would Israel do anything to impair this relationship."
CBS News, which first reported the investigation late on Friday, quoted sources as saying the suspected spy last year turned over a presidential directive on US policy toward Iran while it was "in the draft phase when US policy-makers were still debating the policy."
This put the Israelis, according to one source, "inside the decision-making loop" so they could "try to influence the outcome."
US authorities had requested information about two AIPAC employees implicated in the case, CBS reported.
AIPAC said it was cooperating fully with the government's investigation but was confident that it and its employees would be cleared of any wrongdoing.
SECURITY: Taipei presses the US for arms supplies, saying the arms sales are not only a reflection of the US security commitment to Taiwan but also serve as a mutual deterrent against regional threats Taiwan is committed to preserving the cross-strait “status quo” and contributing to regional peace and stability, the Presidential Office said yesterday. “It is an undeniable fact that the Republic of China is a sovereign and independent democratic nation,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) reiterated, adding that Beijing has no right to claim sovereignty over Taiwan. The statements came after US President Donald Trump warned against Taiwanese independence. Trump wrapped up a state visit to Beijing on Friday, during which Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had pressed him not to support Taiwan. Taiwan depends heavily on US security backing to deter China from carrying
The subsidiary of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in Kumamoto, Japan, turned a profit in the first quarter of this year, marking the first time the first fab of the unit has become profitable since mass production started at the end of 2024. According to the contract chipmaker’s financial statement released on Friday, Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Inc (JASM), a joint venture running the fab in Kumamoto, posted NT$951 million (US$30.19 million) in profit in the January-to-March period, compared with a loss of NT$1.39 billion in the previous quarter, and a loss of NT$3.25 billion in the first quarter of
RESOLUTE BACKING: Two Republican senators are planning to introduce legislation that would impose immediate sanctions on China if it attempts to invade Taiwan US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday reaffirmed US congressional support for Taiwan, saying the US and “all freedom-loving people” have a stake in preventing China from seizing Taiwan by force. Johnson made the remarks in an interview with Fox News Sunday on US President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) last week. In an interview that aired on Friday on Fox News, just as Trump wrapped up a high-stakes visit to China, he said he has yet to green-light a new US$14 billion arms package to Taiwan and that it “depends on China.” “It’s a very good
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
RSS