New York has long attracted influential people: bankers, journalists, diplomats, entrepreneurs, and tech innovators. Recently, however, a new influential group has been making its presence felt in New York: the alumni of the Israeli military unit 8200. This unit deals with cyber spying and psychological operations and is infamous in military and intelligence circles. A chain of investigative reports has revealed that several journalists and media directors in the United States are also alumni of this unit.
Threads in the Press: Unit 8200 Spies in New York
MintPress News has long reported that Barak Ravid, a Washington and New York journalist and Axios contributor, was an analyst for the Israeli military intelligence unit 8200. He belonged to the unit previously and had served as a reservist until recently. Ravid covers primarily political issues in his articles, mainly related to military and security topics in Israel, and somehow always seems to have insider reports directly from the Trump White House.
Shachar Peled, a former CNN producer currently working in the United States, also served in the military. She was also a member of unit 8200, where she worked as an officer for three years before joining CNN.
Anadolu Agency reported that several officials, including CNN and Axios producers, working in the U.S. and closely associated with Israel/Palestine news topics, are alumni of the Israeli military unit 8200.
Stories Behind the Scenes: Spies in the Press
According to TRT World’s research, there is a considerable number of former officers of the U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies who, as producers and communication directors, are now working in the American news agencies in the capacity of producers and communication directors. Therefore, such journalists are in a position to directly influence the distribution and presentation of news about Israel in the U.S. and the rest of the world.
For example, according to a TRT report, the New York Times’ coverage of the far-right Israeli football fans who engaged in a violent fight in Amsterdam was influenced by the Times Company’s external communications director. This man was formerly the spokesperson for the NSA and the U.S. Army Cyber Command.
The Entrepreneurs in New York and Spies in Military Uniform Connection
Many of the companies that belong to the Israeli “cyber intelligence companies,” deal with monitoring and surveillance, and are famous for being extremely secretive, were created by graduates of the Israeli military unit 8200.
Many of the units’ alumni are experts in penetrating the technical security of mobile phones, corporate emails, and other communication tools, intercepting text messages, emails, photos, and videos. All this gives these companies a clear advantage in the cyber espionage business. Such companies as NSO Group, Candiru, Cellebrite, Verint, NICE, Black Cube, which specialise in corporate security, are known to use software produced by other cybersecurity units.
Most applications secretly monitor and listen to citizens, and their interference has been widely reported by the press. The NSO Group, based in Tel Aviv, is one of the most infamous manufacturers of such software. Recently, the conflict with Facebook and WhatsApp over the use of the Israeli NSO Group’s software has made headlines in several newspapers. This software intercepted the messages of millions of Americans without their consent. The headquarters of these organisations are in New York, which ties these military and technical circles together.
The research shows that the network of subsidiaries of these companies extends throughout the United States, and several of them are particularly well-developed in New York. Although these companies have their headquarters in Israel, all major commercial and legal decisions are made in New York.
In addition, venture funds in the city are ready to finance promising technologies and attract talented hackers who are former employees of the military unit 8200.
Why New York Has Become Attractive for Intelligence Organisations and Why This Matters in New York
There are three reasons why New York is strategically important for the work of military unit 8200: the largest number of journalists in the world, the concentration of venture capital in the technology industry, and the most significant number of political figures who can patronise such structures. New York is not called the Israel outside of Israel for no reason.
In New York, there are many companies dealing with military espionage software that are being created, while former officers of the military unit are now serving as directors of communication departments of newspapers or producers in CNN or other news agencies. These people use their vast knowledge of technology to hide their activities from ordinary citizens.
Espionage in plain sight.
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📽️ Credit: Unknown
