Despite promising to shut down eavesdropping operations on American allies nearly two years ago, the Obama administration has continued to monitor the communications of friendly heads of state, most notably Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The National Security Agency “captured communications between Mr. Netanyahu and his aides that inflamed mistrust between the two countries,” a senior intelligence official told The Wall Street Journal.

According to the official, the White House kept spying on Netanyahu because it served a “compelling national security purpose,” and used the information gleaned to counter Netanyahu’s campaign against President Obama’s proposed Iran Nuclear Deal.

Through the probe, the White House discovered Netanyahu’s office had “coordinated talking points with Jewish-American groups against the deal,” and communicated with American lawmakers to see “what it would take to win their votes.”

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