The first of a series of articles on the leak – dubbed Spy Cables – were published on Monday and Tuesday, unveiling the CIA's attempts to contact Hamas, Britain's efforts to recruit a North Korean spy, and Israeli intelligence's true assessment of the Iranian nuclear program.
CIA Tried Contacting Hamas Despite US Bank
The United States' Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) attempted to get in touch with the Palestinian Hamas movement, despite an official US ban, according to one of the leaked documents.
Seemingly "desperate to make inroads into Hamas in Gaza," a CIA agent discussed the opportunity of accessing the Islamist group with a South African colleague in 2012.
The United States, alongside Israel and a number of other countries, considers Hamas to be a terrorist organization.
Mossad Contradicted Netanyahu's Iran Nuclear Weapon Claims
In a dramatic speech before the UN General Assembly in 2012, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned about Iran's alleged attempts to build a nuclear weapon, holding up a bomb drawing as a visual aid.
Israel's intelligence agency, however, was apparently less worried about Iran's nuclear activities.
According to a classified report shared by Israel's Mossad with South African colleagues just weeks after Netanyahu's speech, Iran was "not performing the activity necessary to produce weapons."
Israelis, Palestinians Sought to Block UN Gaza Report
Mossad reportedly lobbied to block the work of the United Nations' fact finding mission on Gaza, known as the Goldstein report, fearing it would undermine Israel's position in peace negotiations with the Palestinians.
According to the Spy Cables, Israel's former intelligence head Meir Dagan made an urgent private phone call to his South African counterpart ahead of the vote on the issue in the UN Human Rights Council.
Dagan said his request was backed by Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, who feared that the UN report would benefit the rivaling Hamas movement.
US, Allies Pressured South African Intelligence to Monitor Iran
Bowing under US pressure, South African intelligence wasted immense resources on monitoring Iranian agents, while not actually considering Iran to be a threat to the country.
South Africa's classified Operational Target Analysis, dated January 2010, lists the personal details of dozens of Iranians, including information on embassy drivers and gardeners.
The report found Tehran to be using front companies, such as Persian carpet dealers, to carry out intelligence activities in South Africa. US and UK intelligence warned that such companies were also used to bypass western sanctions, according to Al Jazeera.
MI6 Halted South African Company's Iran Deal
The United Kingdom's foreign intelligence service, commonly known as MI6, alongside their US allies, helped end South African sales to an Iranian company allegedly involved in a ballistic missile program.
The project between a now disbanded South African firm and the Iranian company was two-thirds complete when it was halted.
Its termination may have been one of the reasons behind the South African firm's closure, a former employee said, according to The Guardian, rejecting claims that the firm was involved in any military activities.
UK Tried to Recruit North Korean Spy
British intelligence also sought South African assistance in recruiting an agent from North Korea, the leaked documents revealed.
MI6 asked their South African colleagues to "provide covert surveillance to identify" a North Korean in transit between flights and "securely house him whilst our officer makes contact."
The MI6 had reportedly tried recruiting the North Korean on a previous occasion. The leaked documents do not disclose whether the second attempt was successful, or if South Africa agreed to help.
The Spy Cables, reviewing a period from 2006 to December 2014, appear to be the most significant leak of classified intelligence data since Edward Snowden started revealing Western intelligence agencies' mass surveillance programs in 2013.
