LONDON — Boris Johnson claimed he found a listening device in his personal bathroom at the British Foreign Office after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used it.
The former prime minister alleged that his security team found bugging devices in the toilets after Netanyahu had used the facilities. The pair met in 2017 when Johnson was Britain’s foreign secretary.
The claim comes in Johnson’s memoir “Unleashed” which is released on Oct.10. Extracts were shared with the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
“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,” Johnson writes as he recalls a meeting.
The Telegraph pressed the ex-PM on whether he could disclose more details about what happened, although Johnson told them: “I think everything you need to know about that episode is in the book.”
The Israeli Embassy in London was approached for comment.
POLITICO reported in 2019 that the U.S. government believed Israel was responsible for planting cellphone surveillance devices near the White House and other sensitive locations around Washington, D.C. The devices were designed to fool cellphones into giving them their locations and identity information.
Johnson’s memoir has raised eyebrows in London even before its release.
The ex-prime minister, who was ousted from office by his own party in 2022, has disclosed details about Queen Elizabeth II’s health in her final year and accused French President Emmanuel Macron of trying to give the U.K. a “punishment beating” for leaving the EU.
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