An increasing focus by the US National Security Agency (NSA) on penetrating Israel’s secure communications network indicates the Biden administration’s fear that an Israeli strike on Iran could lead to a full-scale Middle East conflict, a Ynet article states. The article refers to a recent report by Yediot Achranot that cites “knowledgeable sources” that the NSA has recently recruited dozens of Hebrew speakers. Additionally, the agency now employs about 250 wiretappers, monitors, analysts, linguists and translators of Israeli electronic communication traffic including telephone calls, digital messaging and coded transmissions. The NSA’s growing penetration of Israel’s secure communications was confirmed by the recent leak of top-secret Pentagon documents, with some of the leaked documents detailing purported messages by senior Mossad officials. According to the article, due to the increasingly likely prospect of Iran gaining nuclear power, the Biden administration understands that the chances of an Israeli preemptive strike on Iran are rapidly increasing. Washington does not want to be dragged into a Middle East conflict and it is determined to have advance knowledge of any Israeli military preparations in order to convince Israel to change its mind. Biden will follow in President Barack Obama’s footsteps of purporting that “diplomacy” is far better than becoming embroiled in a war. When concocting the deal, Obama himself said: “Let’s not mince words. The choice we face is ultimately between diplomacy or some form of war. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not three months from now, but soon.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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