Netanyahu: I’m sure CIA knows Mossad was not behind anti-government protests

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denies the Central Intelligence Agency’s leaked analysis that the Mossad spy agency was backing the protests against his government’s effort to overhaul the judiciary.

“I value American intelligence a little more than that, and I think they probably know the truth,” Netanyahu tells NBC’s Meet the Press, when asked about the leaks that were widely covered in US media and quickly denied by Israel.

“The truth is that the Mossad legal adviser said that under Israeli law, junior members of Mossad can participate in demonstrations, not senior members. That’s, I think, what led to this misunderstanding,” he says. “The Mossad, the military, the internal security services are working hand-in-hand with me as prime minister to assure the security of the country, and they’re doing a damn good job of it.

The 15-minute interview focuses largely on the judicial overhaul, with Netanyahu repeating talking points about the need for reform to restore a balance of power between the branches of government, and insisting that he is seeking as broad of a consensus as possible for the changes he is seeking.