The NSA spied on Israeli prime minister during Iran talks, says WSJ

“We didn’t say, ‘Do it, ‘ ” a senior USA official told the Journal.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that the National Security Agency (NSA) swept up information that White House officials considered valuable as it sought to counter Netanyahu’s vocal opposition to the nuclear deal between Iran, the USA and other world leaders.

The administration then became involved concerning the Iran nuclear deal in that was being negotiated.

Further, the Journal reports that intercepted conversations between Israeli leaders confirmed Israel’s knowledge of the talks, as well as its intent to undermine any nuclear deal with Iran by leaking its details.

That prompted fears of an “Oh s- moment”, according to a senior official, that the executive branch would be accused of spying on Congress.

The incoming Obama administration, according to the report, let the NSA decide what to share and what not to share, avoiding a paper trail.

The only thing that could spark an uproar in Washington is that the NSA eavesdropped on members of Congress and leaders of the American Jewish community, all American citizens.

Stepped-up NSA eavesdropping revealed to the White House how Mr. Netanyahu and his advisers had… coordinated talking points with Jewish-American groups against the deal; and asked undecided lawmakers what it would take to win their votes. But Obama maintained the monitoring of Netanyahu on the grounds it served a “compelling national security objective”, the Journal reported.

The office of Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said only that it was looking into the matter.

But it also raised an ethical conundrum for the Obama administration, because Mr Netanyahu was in continual contact with members of Congress. “Of course we wouldn’t do that”, using Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s nickname.

The report which carried interviews of top United States intelligence and administrative officials confirmed that NSA was allowed to spy on connections between several members of Congress and Netanyahu on the orders of President Barack Obama, who himself promised to curtail surveillance programme of NSA two years ago. “The prime minister mentioned no secrets during his speech to Congress”, wrote the Journal.