Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon visits IDF soldiers during exercise in North. (photo credit:ARIEL HERMONI / DEFENSE MINISTRY)
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon issued a denial on Tuesday in response to a report that appeared in The Wall Street Journal, which said that Jerusalem spied on the US’s nuclear talks with Iran and passed on the information to lawmakers in Congress.
Referring to the report during a visit to Nesher, Ya’alon said, “I can tell you, as someone who knows the intelligence community from very up close for twenty years, since I was head of Military Intelligence in 1995, that there is no way, was no way, that Israel would spy on the Americans.”
Ya’alon added that a ban on spying activities against the US has been in place and enforced by all governments he has known for two decades, and that this certainly remains the case. “No Israeli intelligence organization spies on the Americans,” Ya’alon affirmed.
Ya’alon asked the intelligence community whether they received a complaint about improper conduct from the US, adding, “We did not receive any complaint. But someone apparently has an interest in stoking conflict, or bringing a negative twist to relations between us, which are strategic relations from our perspective.”
“This does not mean there are no divisions. There are divisions at times. Sometimes we see things differently, and there are channels to smooth over differences…I hope we pass this as soon as possible and get back to the same relations that are mostly discreet and covert. I hope this continues and that it is not harmed in any way,” the defense minister added.
Earlier Ya’alon attended a military drill in the North with senior IDF officials. …….’
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