The Jerusalem Post reports:
Jerusalem responded largely with a yawn to a Wall Street Journal report Tuesday that the US eavesdropped on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with current and past officials saying it is an open secret that Washington listens in on high-level conversations in key capitals around the world.
Officially, however, the Prime Minister’s Office had no comment on the report.
The article, which said Netanyahu “topped the list” of US allies whom the White House decided to keep under “close watch,” also revealed that – contrary to the widespread perception – Israeli Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer did not “concoct” the plan to have Netanyahu address a joint session of Congress last March.
“I was not knocked off my chair” by the Wall Street Journal report, National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Minister Yuval Steinitz told Israel Radio. Steinitz, who held the intelligence minister portfolio in the last government and played a key role in trying to thwart the Iranian nuclear deal, said that one of his basic premises was that the US and other friendly countries were trying to collect intelligence on Israel.
Read the full story at the Jerusalem Post.