A former CIA analyst has made explosive allegations about Israeli intelligence operations against American agencies, claiming that Israeli operatives repeatedly attempted to plant surveillance devices in CIA facilities and routinely tried to recruit US intelligence officers during official meetings.
Former CIA officer John Kiriakou made sweeping allegations about Israeli operations and American political influence during a wide-ranging interview on Joe Rogan's podcast.
Kiriakou, who served as a CIA analyst specializing in Middle Eastern affairs, described restrictions on Israeli intelligence visits to agency headquarters, claiming security concerns drove policy changes. He described his first encounter with Israeli agents some two months after joining the agency. "I was told to give my very first liaison briefing. So this is going to be the Israeli Mossad and Shin Bet. And I was going to be one of about eight analysts, and I was the most junior, so I would go last. We don't allow the Israelis into CIA headquarters. We used to, but every time they would come, they'd say, 'Hey, we brought gifts. Here's a gift for you.' It's all packed full of listening devices and batteries," he alleged.
When Rogan expressed surprise, Kiriakou responded: "Every one of them... We'd say, 'You guys, you can't come back here every single time and try to bug our conference rooms.'" Kiriakou recounted what he characterized as a recruitment approach during an official briefing with Israeli officers.
"The guy goes like this... 'Spell your name.' So I spell it. He writes it down, and he's looking at me over his glasses, and he goes, 'You are Jewish?' And I said, 'I am not recruitable. Don't even think about trying to recruit me,'" Kiriakou recalled. He claimed supervisors later told him: "They've done that to every single one of us. It's like they can't help themselves."
Kiriakou, who joined the CIA in 1990 and worked on counterterrorism operations, gained national attention as a whistleblower who publicly exposed details of the agency's enhanced interrogation program, including waterboarding techniques used on high-value detainees like Abu Zubaydah. His disclosures ultimately led to his prosecution under the Espionage Act, and in 2013 he was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for revealing classified information, including the identity of a covert CIA officer to a journalist. Kiriakou has maintained that his actions were motivated by conscience and a desire to expose what he considered illegal torture practices, though his conviction has drawn both criticism and support from various quarters regarding the balance between national security and government accountability.
The former analyst described being approached by lobbyists during his first week working with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
"These two guys came in, could not have been any friendlier... 'We wanted to welcome you with an all-expenses paid trip to the Holy Land,'" he said, adding that he declined while "some of my colleagues went for their all expenses paid trip to the Holy Land."
Despite his criticisms, Kiriakou acknowledged the effectiveness of pro-Israel lobbying operations. When Rogan marveled at how Israel was so effective in its lobbying compared to other countries, Kiriakou agreed: "Much bigger. And they have such a tiny population... nine million people... It's pretty gangster. Kudos to them. It's like Chicago taking over the world."
