Israeli officials demand end to US snoop-ops following email interception of former leaders

Washington – Senior Israeli leaders have reportedly demanded an end to the alleged mass surveillance programmes carried out by the US’ National Security Agency after it was revealed that emails of the country’s former leaders were allegedly intercepted.

Israeli Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said that the alleged interception of emails wasn’t legitimate, and called for both countries to enter an agreement regarding espionage.

Tourism Minister Uzi Landau also said that it is quite embarrassing between countries who are allies, and renewed call for the release of Jonathan Pollard, a former American intelligence analyst who has been imprisoned in the US for nearly three decades for spying on behalf of Israel, Fox News reports.

The revelations made by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden have pointed that the US spy agency and its UK counterpart GCHQ targeted email addresses belonging to the offices of then-serving Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak in 2008-2011.

However, a spokesman for Olmert, Amir Dan, played down the revelations and said that the email address targeted was one meant for queries from the public and was not used for sensitive communications.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a more subdued reaction, saying that Israel continues to press for the convicted spy’s release, the report added.