Report: Israel's Mossad is lobbying the U.S. against new Iran sanctions

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has annoyed the White House by inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a vocal supporter of new sanctions (and worse) against Iran, to address a joint session of Congress about threats from Iran and radical Islam. Well, according to Bloomberg's Josh Rogin and Eli Lake, the Obama administration and U.S. intelligence community aren't the only ones that opposes new sanctions during ongoing nuclear talks: So does the Mossad, Israel's own intelligence service.

Netanyahu and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) support a bill sponsored by Sens. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) that would ramp up sanctions against Iran if it doesn't reach a deal with the U.S. and other world powers by a June 30 deadline. Mossad leaders have "broken ranks" with Netanyahu, Rogin and Lake report, and "have been briefing both Obama administration officials and visiting U.S. senators about their concerns on the Kirk-Menendez bill." Their concern that sanction threats would sink the nuclear talks has caught the attention of lawmakers, including Menendez, who demanded clarification from Israel's ambassador to the U.S.

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