Last update - 00:00 28/10/2007
IDF to reestablish unit aimed at monitoring military telephones
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent
The Israel Defense Forces will reestablish its unit for tapping into the IDF's military phone lines to maintain field security, Haaretz has learned. The army said the move - part of conclusions after the Second Lebanon War - "is yet to be determined."
The Military Intelligence unit Ayit ("Eagle") was closed down in 2000. Before that, the unit's soldiers would monitor military communications and break into the conversation if classified material was discussed on nonsecure lines.
After especially severe disclosures of classified information, Ayit pressed charges against ordinary soldiers and officers alike.
However, several chiefs of staff have been rumored to use the unit to spy on their subordinates and potential rivals within the army. This has prompted criticism from various IDF officials, including some from Military Intelligence.
Ayit's reestablishment - which must be approved by Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi - is apparently aimed to counter two main phenomena that emerged during the war: Unintentional leaks through the communications system, and deliberate leaks to the press.
The unintentional leaks occurred over landlines connecting IDF phones to the civilian phone system. Ayit is expected to be mandated to monitor these lines, as it has in the past. Classified information has also leaked via military cellular phone networks.
IDF troops operating in Lebanon found sophisticated intelligence equipment in Hezbollah bunkers that the group had used to tap into IDF cellular phone lines.
The IDF Spokesman told Haaretz: "The issue of the reestablishment of Ayit has not yet been determined. The possibility of reopening the unit is currently being examined as part of the effort to draw conclusions from the Second Lebanon War and the drive to implement these conclusions."