The White House allegedly instructed the NSA to spy on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his aggressive campaign against the Iran nuclear deal, believing the information could help curtail the prime minister's efforts to thwart the agreement, the Wall Street Journal reported late Tuesday .
The NSA listened in on communications between Netanyahu and his aides, which the Journal says further deepened the mistrust between the two governments, as well as to private conversations Israeli leaders and officials had with US lawmakers and American-Jewish groups, raising fears the White House will be accused of spying on Congress.
In addition, the NSA learned that Netanyahu and other Israeli officials used that information to coach representatives of Jewish-American groups, and to ascertain from US lawmakers what it would take to win their vote against the deal.
At first, the Obama administration was worried of a possible Israeli strike against Iran's nuclear facilities without telling the White House, while Washington was pursuing secret talks with Tehran.