Israel denies claim it spied on U.S.

Equipment said to extract data from phones

JERUSALEM• Israel on Thursday denied a report claiming that it had placed cellphone surveillance devices in sensitive locations around Washington, including near the White House.

According to the report by news site Politico, which cited three anonymous former senior U.S. officials “with knowledge of the matter,” the equipment — devices that mimic cell towers, fooling cellphones into giving them their locations and identity information — was discovered some time ago.

However, Israel has faced no reprimand or consequences for the alleged action, with the report suggesting the violation has been downplayed due to the exceptionally close ties between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The report comes at a sensitive time, with Israelis returning to the polls next week for a second general election this year as Netanyahu fights to hold on to his office. It also comes in a week where Trump appears to be breaking ranks with the Israeli leader’s unwavering narrative on Iran, indicating at the possibility of meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

Last week, Net anyahu spent a day in London, meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as well as visiting U.S. Secretary of Defence Mark Esper to discuss, he said, Iranian entrenchment in the Middle East, particularly on Israel’s northern border.

Following publication of the Politico report, Netanyahu called the claims “an absolute lie.”

“There is a longstanding commitment and a directive from the Israeli government not to engage in any intelligence operations in the U.S. This directive is strictly enforced without exception,” said a statement from Netanyahu’s bureau.

Israel’s minister of foreign affairs and intelligence, Israel Katz, also denied that Israel had installed listening devices in the United States.

“Israel does not conduct any spy operations in the United States,” he said in a statement. “The U.S. and Israel share a lot of intelligence information and work together to prevent threats and strengthen the security of both countries.”

Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israeli military intelligence, wrote on Twitter that the report was “fake news with a spice of anti-Semitism.”

Charles Freilich, a former national security adviser in Israel and an analyst on U.S.-Israel relations also said the report was likely false.