By Samuel Miller
Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, North America and Oceania
WASHINGTON, D.C., United States of America — U.S. spying programs picked up communications between members of Congress and Israeli leaders, giving the White House insight into Israel’s lobbying of U.S. lawmakers against the Iran nuclear deal. In a report first published by The Wall Street Journal late Tuesday, the U.S. reportedly continued to spy on select leaders of allied nations, despite President Barack Obama’s pledge to curb such surveillance two years ago.
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The Obama administration decided against monitoring Merkel and French President Francois Hollande, but continued to monitor Netanyahu and Turkish President Recep Erdogan.
Although President Obama had promised to curb eavesdropping on world leaders who are U.S. allies, there were a few leaders the White House wished to continue monitoring, including Netanyahu. The original reason for the stepped up surveillance of Netanyahu, according to the Wall Street Journal, was the fear that he would strike Iran without warning.
It was also discovered that Netanyahu and his advisers leaked details they had learned though Israeli intelligence concerning the US-Iran negotiations, and coordinated talks with Jewish-American groups against the deal and tried to influence votes of undecided US lawmakers. As a part of the surveillance, the NSA eavesdropped on communications between Israeli and US lawmakers amid efforts to reach a nuclear deal with Iran.
Specifically, the efforts of the Netanyahu government to turn legislators against the negotiations and convince them to block the emerging agreement were revealed. Before Netanyahu came to address Congress, the NSA had intercepted Israeli messages that said Netanyahu ‘wanted the latest U.S. positions in the Iran talks.’
According to the report, Obama administration officials thought the information they uncovered could potentially counteract Netanyahu’s crusade to stop the nuclear deal. Ultimately, the administration decided to let the NSA decide what to share.
“We didn’t say, ‘Do it,'” a senior U.S. official told the Journal. “We didn’t say, ‘Don’t do it.'”
Netanyahu spoke out against a potentially unsatisfactory nuclear deal during a speech to a joint session of Congress in March. The U.S. and five other world powers reached a deal with Iran in July. Netanyahu has previously criticized the United States for its spying efforts, specifically those targeted toward Israelis.
Officials said Obama insisted that keeping tabs on Netanyahu served a compelling national security purpose.
For more information, please see:
CBS News – Report: NSA recorded members of Congress with Israeli leaders – 30 December 2015
Politico — Report: U.S. spying on Israel swept up members of Congress – 29 December 2015
The Hill — US snooping on Israel also caught talks with lawmakers: report – 29 December 2015
Wall Street Journal — U.S. Spy Net on Israel Snares Congress – 29 December 2015