Was Israel spying on nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran?
Soon after negotiations began between the U.S., Russia, China, Germany, France, Britain and Iran last year, senior White House officials discovered Israel was spying on the talks — an effort led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
Israel denied spying on U.S. negotiations, insisting that it received details of the negotiations from French officials, who are also participating in the talks with Iran.
Though Netanyahu and Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer knew that using the information to help any chances of killing or reshaping the nuclear deal would damage relations with the White House, they did it anyway.
“It is one thing for the U.S. and Israel to spy on each other. It is another thing for Israel to steal U.S. secrets and play them back to U.S. legislators to undermine U.S. diplomacy,” a senior U.S. official briefed on the matter told the Wall Street Journal.
Upon hearing of the report, a senior Israeli official from Netanyahu’s office called the allegations “utterly false.”
“The state of Israel does not conduct espionage against the United States or Israel’s other allies. The false allegations are clearly intended to undermine the strong ties between the United States and Israel and the security and intelligence relationship we share.”
The latest round of finger pointing between the White House and Israeli government comes as the relationship between the traditional allies is at an all-time low.
The White House continues to condemn Prime Minister Netanyahu for his pre-election dismissal of a Palestinian state and remarks that his opponents were attempting to mobilize Arab-Israeli voters “in droves.”
“We cannot simply pretend that these comments were never made,” White House chief of staff Denis McDonough told the left-leaning J Street on Monday.
The White House says the Israeli leader’s remarks have forced it to “reevaluate” Israeli-Palestinian peace talks moving forward.
As for the spying spat, U.S. officials predicted that Netanyahu would regret his actions.
“People feel personally sold out,” a senior administration official told the Journal. “That’s where the Israelis really better be careful because a lot of these people will not only be around for this administration but possibly the next one as well.”
White House correspondent Brian Hughes contributed to this report.
