Israel was most likely responsible for the cellphone surveillance devices that were found near the White House and other sensitive areas around Washington, D.C., last year, according to former U.S. government officials.
The cell-site simulators, known as “StingRays,” are able to intercept communications and track the location of cellphones.
Former officials, who spoke with Politico, said a forensic analysis of the devices led the United States to conclude Israeli spies had placed them.
“It was pretty clear that the Israelis were responsible,” a former top intelligence official said.
The devices were likely used in an attempt to spy on President Trump as well as those close to the president, a former official said. It was unclear whether the attempts were successful.
Despite Trump having a warm relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a former senior intelligence official said the Israelis “are pretty aggressive” in their intelligence gathering operations.
“They’re all about protecting the security of the Israeli state and they do whatever they feel they have to achieve that objective,” the person said.
The Trump administration did not admonish the Israelis and there have been no consequences for the actions, a former official said.
“The reaction … was very different than it would have been in the last administration,” the person said. “With the current administration, there are a different set of calculations in regard to addressing this.”
Elad Strohmayer, a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy, called the allegations “absolute nonsense.” “Israel doesn’t conduct espionage operations in the United States, period,” he said.
The Chinese were also suspected as having placed the devices, but a former intelligence official said an analysis of the devices ruled them out.
“You can often, depending upon the tradecraft of the people who put them in place, figure out who’s been accessing them to pull the data off the devices,” the former official explained.
