Boris Johnson: Listening Device Found in Bathroom After Netanyahu’s Visit

In his memoir, the former UK prime minister recounts a suspicious incident.

Boris Johnson, the UK’s former prime minister, claims that in 2017, a security team found a listening device in his personal bathroom at the Foreign Office. The incident occurred after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used the facility. Johnson described the bathroom as similar to “the gents in a posh London club,” located in a “secret annex” used by the foreign secretary. According to Johnson’s memoir, Netanyahu was in the building on an official visit and apparently used the bathroom while there.

“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 wrote.

Johnson, who served as UK prime minister from 2019 to 2022, declined to provide further details to The Telegraph, stating that everything that can be made public is already included in his memoir titled Unleashed.

The Telegraph reported that it is unclear whether the alleged espionage attempt resulted in any diplomatic consequences. The incident is compared to the discovery of surveillance devices in Washington DC around the same time, which were reportedly attributed to the Israeli intelligence service Mossad.

Media reports indicate that the US incident involved so-called IMSI-catchers, or StingRays. These devices mimic regular cell towers, tricking mobile phones into revealing their unique ID number.

Such surveillance equipment was found near several sensitive locations in the US capital, including the White House. Israel allegedly tracked the phone used by then-President Donald Trump using these techniques.

Previously, British media highlighted another episode described in Johnson’s book. In 2021, his government considered a raid on the Netherlands to secure approximately 5 million doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine against Covid-19, a matter that caused a dispute between the UK and the EU.