Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today assured that the United States remains his country’s “best ally”, downplaying the leak of classified US documents that contained information about his country.

One of those documents, leaked online, said that the heads of the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, supported the protests against the controversial reform of the judicial system, which was being promoted by the Netanyahu government.

All this is the result of a “misunderstanding,” Netanyahu said in the interview he gave to the American television network NBC. Lower-ranking Mossad members “can participate in demonstrations,” but not its leadership, he said, arguing that this explains the content of the document. He also insisted that the secret service is not against him, instead working with him “for the security of the country.”

Since the reform was announced in early January, tens of thousands of Israelis have demonstrated every week against it. At the end of March, the government announced a “pause” in the process of adopting the reform, which had been criticized even by US President Joe Biden. His “objections” did not hurt the US relationship with Israel, Netanyahu stressed.

“America is irreplaceable for Israel and is, by far, its best ally. Friends can sometimes disagree,” he emphasized.