Ya’alon says ‘someone trying to stir fight’ with WSJ report

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon says that Israel has not received an official complaint from the US administration regarding Israeli espionage on the proceedings of American talks with Iran. According to Ya’alon, “someone is trying to stir a fight here.”

Ya’alon is responding to a report in the Wall Street Journal published Tuesday morning in which Israel was alleged to have spied on US negotiations with Iran.

In a meeting with Likud activists, Ya’alon says, “There is no way and there was no way that Israel spied after the Americans. This has been strictly forbidden by every Israeli government. There is no damage to the security-intelligence relationship with the US; someone is trying to stir a fight here. It’s regretful that daylight is entering the secret channels in which we conduct this relationship.”

Officials in the Prime Minister’s Office earlier also characterized the allegations as “baseless, and meant to destabilize the strong ties and cooperation on security.”