We all remember the Eric Snowden NSA scandal of 2013. We all remember the controversy that surrounded the government and telecommunication companies alike. Two and a half years later, this story is a dubious gift that keeps on giving.
We’re now learning the White House continued to spy on their ally Israel months after promises of curtailed eavesdropping of global allies. The alleged spying took place during the midst of the Iran nuclear deal, a deal Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vehemently opposed. The NSA got plenty of conversations between Israeli leaders and members of the US Congress. Of course, that meant the NSA literally spied on Congress. White House leaders believed this NSA surveillance taught them just how bad Netanyahu hated this deal, and how to counter his campaign. It revealed the Israeli Prime Minister begged and negotiated with lawmakers to block the Iran deal. This surveillance campaign was so risky they made sure no paper trail was discovered. And this isn’t the first time the NSA was caught spying on it’s own allies. It was reveled they snooped on French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. In January 2014, US President Obama pledged to curb this sort of eavesdropping.
President Obama said curb the eavesdropping; he didn’t pledge to drop it altogether. The relationship between Obama (and many Congress members) and Netanyahu has been rocky for quite a while. Earlier this year, when Netanyahu spoke to Congress, many in the White House and Congress didn’t show up. I doubt these revelations will thaw matters much. I’m not writing this to take sides or to say who was right and who was wrong. But this episode goes to show what a powerful tool technology, especially surveillance technology, can be on the global political landscape. And it shows it can help or hinder global alliances. Did it help or hurt the decades long alliance between the US and Israel?