The official Israeli response to allegations in the Wall Street Journal that President Barack Obama ordered the National Security Agency (NSA) to spy on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he discussed the nuclear deal with Iran has been muted.
The aim of the NSA operation was apparently to counter the Israeli prime minister’s efforts to prevent the US and other Western powers from signing a deal with Iran, which he believes is disastrous for Israel’s security .
According to the WSJ, Israeli officials “co-ordinated talking points with Jewish-American groups against the deal and asked undecided lawmakers what it would take to win their votes”.
Israel’s Transport and Intelligence Affairs Minister Yisrael Katz initially said that if the espionage allegations were true, Israel must lodge a protest. Shortly afterwards, however, the prime minister’s office ordered all ministers and officials to refrain from talking about the report.
