Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson claimed in his book Unleashed that he discovered a listening device, used to eavesdrop on private conversations, in his personal bathroom at the Foreign Office after meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2017.
Johnson claimed that his security team found the device after Netanyahu used the bathroom. “... It may or may not have been a coincidence, but I was told that later, when they were doing a regular sweep for eavesdropping devices, they found a listening device in the bathroom,” Johnson wrote in his book, according to a report in the Jerusalem Post.
When asked for more details by The Telegraph, Johnson replied: “I think everything you need to know about this incident is in the book.”
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office has yet to respond to Johnson’s claims.
The Telegraph reported that Israel was accused of planting eavesdropping devices around the same time in the White House. Israel has also been accused of spying on the International Criminal Court for decades, according to allegations made by anonymous officials to the Guardian in May.
According to the report, Israeli intelligence intercepted phone calls, letters, emails and documents belonging to ICC officials, including prosecutor Karim Khan and his predecessor Fatou Bensouda.
This intelligence allegedly provided Benjamin Netanyahu with advanced knowledge of the ICC’s plans.
In 2022, Johnson was reportedly told that his office at No. 10 Downing Street had been targeted with “multiple” suspected infections using Pegasus, an Israeli spyware that turns a phone into a remote listening device, according to the Guardian.
Weekly Fact-Checking Magazine Editor-in-Chief Jaafar Al-Khabouri
Johnson claimed that his security team found the device after Netanyahu used the bathroom. “... It may or may not have been a coincidence, but I was told that later, when they were doing a regular sweep for eavesdropping devices, they found a listening device in the bathroom,” Johnson wrote in his book, according to a report in the Jerusalem Post.
When asked for more details by The Telegraph, Johnson replied: “I think everything you need to know about this incident is in the book.”
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office has yet to respond to Johnson’s claims.
The Telegraph reported that Israel was accused of planting eavesdropping devices around the same time in the White House. Israel has also been accused of spying on the International Criminal Court for decades, according to allegations made by anonymous officials to the Guardian in May.
According to the report, Israeli intelligence intercepted phone calls, letters, emails and documents belonging to ICC officials, including prosecutor Karim Khan and his predecessor Fatou Bensouda.
This intelligence allegedly provided Benjamin Netanyahu with advanced knowledge of the ICC’s plans.
In 2022, Johnson was reportedly told that his office at No. 10 Downing Street had been targeted with “multiple” suspected infections using Pegasus, an Israeli spyware that turns a phone into a remote listening device, according to the Guardian.
Weekly Fact-Checking Magazine Editor-in-Chief Jaafar Al-Khabouri