EXPOSED: Israel's SPY Inside The U.N.

The Young Turks

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Video Summary

A UN official, Yehav Lichner, reportedly acted as an Israeli spy for at least two years, leaking confidential documents and political intelligence to Israeli diplomats between 2014 and 2015. Hacked emails reveal Lichner provided sensitive information, including classified reports on UN Human Rights Chief meetings and pre-release UN Gaza war crimes reports, to Israeli officials, including then-UN Ambassador Ron Prozer. This intelligence was allegedly used by Israel to lobby the U.S. government and undermine UN initiatives deemed unfavorable.

Despite the revelations, there is no current evidence of Lichner leaking information after 2015 or that UNICEF was aware of his alleged espionage when hiring him. The leaked emails originated from a hacked database belonging to Ron Prozer, obtained by a group with Iranian intelligence ties. Critics argue Lichner should be immediately fired from his UNICEF role due to these allegations, questioning the UN's handling of such a breach of trust.

Short Highlights

A UN official named Yehav Lichner is accused of leaking confidential UN documents and political intelligence to Israeli diplomats.
The alleged espionage occurred over a two-year period between 2014 and 2015.
Information provided included classified reports, private meeting accounts, and pre-release UN materials.
The leaks were revealed through a series of hacked emails from the account of Ron Prozer, Israel's former UN ambassador.
There is no current evidence that the leaking continued after 2015 or that UNICEF knew of these actions when hiring Lichner.

Key Details

Israeli Spy Within the UN [0:12]

A UN official, Yehav Lichner, is reportedly revealed to have been an Israeli spy.
He is currently the head of UNICEF.
Hacked emails suggest Lichner provided UN documents to Israeli diplomats.

"So he's now the head of UNICEF, so I'm sure he's been fired. Has he? Let's find out, Elliot."

Leaked Confidential Report [0:39]

On February 20th, 2015, a UN official sent confidential reports to Israeli diplomats.
The report concerned a trip by then-UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zaid Raad Al Hussein, to Washington D.C.
Lichner sent the email from his personal account, marking the report "for your eyes only."

"For your eyes only, do not forward, Yehav Lichner wrote to a then-Israeli ambassador to the UN Ron Prozer and diplomat Ronnie Leshno-Yar in a message that sent from Lichner's personal email account describing the report as a, quote, classified internal summary of Zaid's meetings in Washington."

Pattern of Leaking [1:27]

The communications suggest Lichner's leaking was not a single incident.
Over two years, from 2014 to 2015, Lichner allegedly supplied Israeli officials with internal UN documents.
This included private meeting accounts, pre-release material, and political intelligence marked "strictly confidential."

"Over a two-year period between 2014 and 2015, emails show Lichner repeatedly supplied Israeli officials with internal UN documents, private meeting accounts, pre-release material, and other political intelligence, including documentation marked as, quote, strictly confidential, which was later used by Israeli officials to help shape their own efforts to both proactively lobbied the US government and undercut UN initiatives they viewed as unfavorable to Israel."

Source of the Leaks and Implications [2:14]

The emails originated from a hacked database of Ron Prozer, Israel's permanent representative to the UN from 2011 to 2015.
The database was leaked by "Distributed Denial of Secrets" and obtained by a hacking group with Iranian intelligence ties.
Leaked materials included confidential reports, UN briefings, an unpublished letter from Ban Ki-moon, and information about UN war crime reports.

"The communications showing Lichner leaking confidential information to officials in the Israeli government come from a hacked database of emails from Procer, Israel's permanent representative, to the UN from 2011 to 2015."