Hagel says is not aware of Israel spying on US

TEL AVIV: US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said on Thursday he was unaware of any truth to a media report that Israel has been spying on the United States.
Asked during a press conference in Tel Aviv about a Newsweek magazine story quoting unnamed US officials as saying Israel was conducting major spying operations against the United States, Hagel said: “I have heard of that report. I’m not aware of any facts that would substantiate the report.”
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said: “As former head of intelligence, I wasn’t allowed to spy in the United States whatsoever. And as defense minister I don’t allow to spy in the United States whatsoever.”
Israeli officials had reacted furiously to the Newsweek story, with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman calling it a “malicious calumny.”
Yaalon, who has this year criticized US foreign policymaking, and Hagel both affirmed the strong bond between Israel and the United States, and Hagel noted the record levels of US aid to Israel.
The US defense chief is on a three-day visit to Israel, where he was due to discuss a host of regional issues. On Iran, Israel’s defense minister said that the Jewish state and its US ally should be prepared to use “all means” to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapons capability.
“I believe that it should be in the first priority of each of us to deal with this threat by all means, in all fields,” Yaalon said at the joint press conference.
Israel has strongly opposed the negotiations with its arch-enemy, and has said repeatedly that it is prepared to go it alone if necessary with preemptive military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities.