In his memoir Unleashed, former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has made a shocking allegation, claiming that a listening device was found in his personal bathroom at the Foreign Office after a visit from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2017.
Johnson, referring to Netanyahu as “Bibi,” recounted that during their meeting, Netanyahu excused himself to use the facilities. Johnson wrote, “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.”
This allegation comes against a backdrop of similar claims regarding Israeli espionage. In 2018, Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, was accused of placing listening devices near the White House to eavesdrop on then-President Donald Trump. Politico reported that three former US officials stated the FBI had identified Israel as the source of several miniature surveillance devices in Washington DC, aimed at monitoring mobile phone traffic.
Johnson’s recent claims have reignited debates over Israel’s espionage practices, particularly against its supposed allies. Historical cases include Jonathan Pollard, a former US Navy intelligence analyst convicted of passing classified information to Israel in the 1980s, and Ben-Ami Kadish, who pleaded guilty in 2008 to providing classified military documents to Israel. Additionally, Arnon Milchan, a Hollywood producer, admitted to being an Israeli spy in the 1970s and 1980s, assisting in acquiring technology for Israel’s nuclear weapons programme.
While not directly linked to Israel, the case of Jewish-Americans Julius and Ethel Rosenberg is often referenced in discussions about espionage involving US secrets. The Rosenbergs were convicted of passing atomic bomb secrets to the Soviet Union during the Cold War, significantly enhancing Soviet nuclear capabilities. Their case, one of the most infamous espionage incidents, culminated in their execution in 1953.
In 2016, British intelligence labelled Israel as a “true threat” to Middle Eastern security, a revelation reported by the French newspaper Le Monde, based on top-secret documents obtained by whistleblower Edward Snowden.
The latest accusations against Johnson have reignited questions about Israel’s status as a genuine ally of Western nations. After World War II, British intelligence viewed Zionist extremism as a significant threat. Notably, Prime Minister Clement Attlee and Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin were considered targets for assassination, as Bevin was seen as the main obstacle to establishing a Jewish state in the Middle East. The Stern Gang’s hit list included MI5’s new director-general, Sir Percy Sillitoe, who alerted Attlee to the possibility of an assassination campaign in Britain.
Social media users have highlighted the historical context of Zionism and its actions. Professor David Miller tweeted about the Zionist campaign of terror against British targets in the 1940s, stating that Revisionist Zionists conducted a campaign of terror against British targets in Palestine, Germany, Italy, Egypt, and in the UK.
Miller detailed specific incidents of Zionist terrorism in the UK, noting, “The Stern Gang invented the book bomb and used it for the first time in the UK to attempt to kill Major Roy Farran in Wolverhampton. They killed his brother Rex, instead. The bomb was inside a hollowed out copy of Shakespeare’s plays”. He also mentioned attempts on the lives of numerous Cabinet members through letter bombs targeting prominent figures, including Prime Minister Clement Attlee and Stafford Cripps.