Seems to be the case that Israel is sending its intelligence agents on spying missions in the US. They have been misrepresenting themselves as from the US intelligence community.
As tensions with Iran escalate, according to former CIA officer Philip Giraldi, "Israeli agents have become more aggressive in targeting Muslims living in the United States as well as in operating against critics."
"There have been a number of cases reported to the FBI about Mossad officers who have approached leaders in Arab-American communities and have falsely represented themselves as ‘U.S. intelligence,’ " Giraldi wrote recently in American Conservative magazine. - Washington Post
This should concern us for a number of reasons.
First, it is quite possible that the actions of these agents could harm the relationship with actual US intelligence services, such as the FBI.
More importantly, these operations may be deliberately designed to hinder free expression and political organizing by those that oppose policies of the Israeli government, e.g. opposing military aggression against Iran, for example. While the US govt itself has not always respected the right of citizens to dissent, i suspect the Israeli government, that has ZERO accountability to US citizens, has even less regard for our constitutional rights.
Israel has a track record of accepting information illegally obtained in the US and tracking dissenters (including, in the past, opponents of South Africa's apartheid regime). The infamous ADL case of the 1980's is but one example. (See here. the ADL eventually lost a civil case against one of the victims, but the damage was done)
Not only do we have the obligation to safeguard people's rights to organize freely in the US from US government intrusion, we also have a duty to make sure that US citizens are kept safe from interference from foreign agents.
Press Release from the ADC.
Washington, DC | www.adc.org | September 7, 2010 - The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) expresses grave concern over allegations that Israeli Intelligence agents are targeting Arab and Muslim Americans, posing as U.S. Federal Agents. The activity was recently reported in a Washington Post Article by Jeff Stein. Such activity will have a negative impact on the trust between Arab and Muslim Americans with the U.S. Federal Government. ADC calls on the Department of Justice, Department of State, and other appropriate Federal agencies to thoroughly investigate any instances of individuals, including foreign nationals, falsely identifying themselves as a U.S. government official.
ADC reminds community members, citizens and non-citizens, that you are entitled to have an attorney present in the event someone who identifies himself or herself as a government official and approaches you for questioning. You do not have to answer any question, and your refusal to answer cannot be used against you. You do not have to allow agents to enter your home without a warrant. If the agent claims to have a warrant please demand to see it. Further, please ask to see the credentials of the government official, ask the agent’s name and a business card, and call the FBI Field Office and ask for verification.
ADC will continue to monitor these reports. If you or someone you know has been approached by anyone identifying himself or herself as a government official, but you suspect or question the identity of such official, please feel free to contact the ADC Legal Department at 202-244-2990, or legal@adc.org.
From here.
UPDATE: I regret not putting this in the diary originally, but my point, as some have not been able to see, is not that Israel simply "collects intelligence" in the US, but that it seems intent on disrupting the activities of dissenters from Israeli policy.
this is relevant:
An extraordinary series of articles, reports and presentations by Israel's influential Reut Institute has identified the global movement for justice, equality and peace as an "existential threat" to Israel and called on the Israeli government to direct substantial resources to "attack" and possibly engage in criminal "sabotage" of this movement in what Reut believes are its various international "hubs" in London, Madrid, Toronto, the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond.
The Reut Institute's analyses hold that Israel's traditional strategic doctrine -- which views threats to the state's existence in primarily military terms, to be met with a military response -- is badly out of date. Rather, what Israel faces today is a combined threat from a "Resistance Network" and a "Delegitimization Network....
Reut does not recommend to the Israeli cabinet -- which recently held a special session to hear a presentation of the think tank's findings -- that Israel should actually change its behavior toward Palestinians and Lebanese...
Instead, Reut recommends to the Israeli government an aggressive and possibly criminal counter-offensive. A powerpoint presentation Grinstein made to the recent Herzliya Conference on Israeli national security actually calls on Israel's "intelligence agencies to focus" on the named and unnamed "hubs" of the "delegitimization network" and to engage in "attacking catalysts" of this network.
Electronic Intifada
I would suspect the cabinet took this advice seriously.