Israel spied on closed-door talks over Iran’s nuclear program involving the United States and other world powers to help it argue against a potential deal, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Israeli government’s use of the information it gleaned — sharing it with U.S. lawmakers and others to undercut support for a deal — was what really angered the White House, the Journal reported Monday, citing current and former U.S. officials.
“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 said, according to the newspaper.
The Israeli espionage efforts included eavesdropping and also acquiring information from confidential U.S. briefings, informants and diplomatic contacts in Europe, the report says.
The Journal reports that Israeli officials denied spying directly on U.S. negotiators and said they received the information through other ways, including surveillance of Iranian leaders.
U.S. President Barack Obama’s already difficult relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come under further strain recently after Netanyahu’s controversial statements leading up to Israeli elections last week.