Boris Johnson says spying device was discovered after Netanyahu visit
3 Min Read
The former Prime Minister recounts in his biography that the security crew discovered a listening device in his personal toilet in 2017 after the Israeli Prime Minister used it.
-
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson greets Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside 10 Downing Street in central London on September 5, 2019. (AFP)
A listening device was discovered in Boris Johnson's restroom at the Foreign Office after Benjamin Netanyahu used it, the former UK Prime Minister said.
Johnson claims that when the Israeli Prime Minister visited his department in 2017, his security team discovered bugging devices in the bathrooms after he had used them.
During their discussion at his former office, Johnson claims that Netanyahu excused himself to use the restroom, which he compares to "the gents in a posh London club" that exist within a "secret annexe".
In his autobiography, "Unleashed", Johnson writes: "Thither Bibi repaired for a while, and it may or may not be a coincidence but I am told that later, when they were doing a regular sweep for bugs, they found a listening device in the thunderbox."
When pushed for further information about what transpired during an interview for The Telegraph, Johnson replied, "I think everything you need to know about that episode is in the book."
It is unclear whether "Israel" was questioned about the unusual event. Around the same time, "Israel" was suspected of installing listening devices in the White House and other key places in the US capital.
Netanyahu is known to have collaborated extensively with the Mossad.
Israeli spyware NSO still hides among the walls of the White House
US President Joe Biden issued an executive order forbidding the federal government from employing commercial spyware that threatens national security, such as the NSO's Pegasus.
However, in a report written by the New York Times (NYT), it was revealed last year that among the walls of the White House, there are still present ties to the NSO and that the deal between a business that has served as a front for the US government and the American branch of a notorious Israeli hacking firm was completed.
The Israeli firm, NSO Group, reportedly provided the US government with access to one of its most potent weapons under the terms of the agreement, a geolocation tool that can secretly monitor mobile phones around the world without the owner's knowledge or permission, according to NYT.
NSO hacking tools have been used for years by governments all over the world to spy on political dissidents, human rights activists, and journalists.
NSO was declared a national security danger by the White House, and the Commerce Department was informed to stop doing business with it. As a result, NSO was added to the US blacklist in 2021.
![In a 2021 interview with Frontline by former US special representative James Jeffrey, he says he had "engaged with [HTS] via backchannels while serving in President Trump’s State Department. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)](https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2024/12/21/b4a69f2e-8682-43e4-9d37-49482b304ab3/3.png?v=2&format=webp "In a 2021 interview with Frontline by former US special representative James Jeffrey, he says he had \"engaged with [HTS] via backchannels while serving in President Trump’s State Department. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)")
