Wikileaks: NSA Bugged Netanyahu-Berlusconi Meeting on U.S.-Israel Relations

The Jerusalem Post reports: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi promised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he would help repair ties with US President Barack Obama during the nadir of ties between Jerusalem and Washington in March 2010, the Wikileaks web site reported on Tuesday.

Wikileaks placed on its website intelligence reports of a handful of conversations between world leaders from 2007 to 2011, including the conversation between Netanyahu and Berlusconi following the announcement of plans to build 1600 housing units in the northern Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Shalom in 2010 during the visit of US Vice President Joe Biden.

“Israel has reached out to Europe, including Italy, for help in smoothing out the current rift in its relations with the United States, according to Italian diplomatic reporting of 13 March,” a summary of the conversation read. The Ramat Shlomo announcement was made four days earlier.