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Story highlights Israeli intelligence minister met with French delegation, his spokesman says WSJ: Israel used information it obtained to try to undercut support for a deal "These allegations are utterly false," an Israeli official says of the spying claim

The newspaper reported late Monday on its website that Israel had obtained confidential information about the negotiations to help it argue against a potential deal.

"These allegations are utterly false," the senior official in the Israeli Prime Minister's office told CNN. "The state of Israel does not conduct espionage against the United States or Israel's other allies."

The Israeli government's use of the information it allegedly gleaned -- sharing it with U.S. lawmakers and others to undercut support for a deal -- was what really angered the White House, the Journal reported Monday, citing current and former U.S. officials.

"It is one thing for the U.S. and Israel to spy on each other. It is another thing for Israel to steal U.S. secrets and play them back to U.S. legislators to undermine U.S. diplomacy," a senior U.S. official briefed on the matter said, according to the newspaper.

The Israeli espionage efforts included eavesdropping and also acquiring information from confidential U.S. briefings, informants and diplomatic contacts in Europe, the report says.

The senior Israeli official told CNN that "the false allegations are clearly intended to undermine the strong ties between the United States and Israel and the security and intelligence relationship we share."

That's not to say Israeli officials haven't been asking around about the Iran nuclear talks, as participating parties race to get a framework agreement ahead of a March 31 deadline.

Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz and Yossi Cohen, Netanyahu's national security adviser, led an Israeli delegation that met early this week with a negotiating team from France, Israeli Intelligence Ministry spokesman Eyal Basson said.

The same Israeli officials left France on Tuesday morning for the United Kingdom to meet with Britain's delegation on the Iran nuclear talks, according to Basson.

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Israel denies it spied on U.S. in Iran nuclear talks - CNN.com