Israel spied on US nuke talks with Iran and then used inside info to lobby US Congress
Officials told The Wall Street Journal that the spying began after the US and other interested parties entered negotiations on slowing down Iran's nuclear program last year.
This news comes after a tumultuous few weeks following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to a joint session of Congress. In that address on March 3, Netanyahu passionately declared that the emerging agreement with Iran was a "bad deal."
The WSJ report cites "current and former" White House officials who said Israel's spying activity was an attempt to "penetrate the negotiations and then help build a case against the emerging terms of the deal."
This has apparently upset some of the officials who have knowledge on the ongoing negotiations.
From the Journal:
President Barack Obama said there is "nothing new" about Israel's position regarding talks with Iran. He told the Associated Press: "Netanyahu's alternative to the talks amounts to no deal at all."
Still, the latest wrinkle in the matter has not done well to get the US and Israel closer to a consensus. The Journal cites one senior US official who laid a out a clear point on Israel's tactics: "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."
Israel has denied that it was spying on the talks.