Leaked intelligence cables reveal that Binyamin Netanyahu’s dramatic 2012 warning to the United Nations that Iran was about a year away from building a nuclear bomb was contradicted by Israel’s own secret service, Mossad. The documents, part of a massive cache of spy files shared with the Guardian, show a significant gap between the prime minister’s public rhetoric and the assessments of Israel’s intelligence establishment.
In a secret report shared with South Africa weeks after Netanyahu’s UN address, Mossad concluded that Iran was “not performing the activity necessary to produce weapons”. The prime minister had brandished a cartoon bomb with a red line, urging world leaders to act. The leaked cables, spanning from 2006 to 2014, include exchanges between South African intelligence and agencies worldwide, including Mossad, the CIA, and Russia’s FSB.
The disclosure comes amid heightened tensions between Israel and the United States ahead of Netanyahu’s planned address to the US Congress on 3 March. The White House fears his rhetoric could undermine sensitive nuclear negotiations with Iran, which face a March deadline for a framework agreement. President Barack Obama has declined to meet Netanyahu during his visit, citing protocol ahead of Israel’s general election.
The leaked documents also reveal CIA attempts to contact Hamas despite a US ban, South Korean intelligence targeting Greenpeace’s leader, and South African spying on Russia over a satellite deal. The cache highlights the growing importance of Africa in global espionage and the challenges intelligence agencies face in keeping secrets secure.
