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Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired back at efforts aimed at ousting him from power, warning about the dangers of forming a "left-wing government" and expressing doubt that anybody in Israel "would vote for [Naftali] Bennet", the chairman of the right-wing Yamina party who wants to create a coalition government with Yair Lapid, the leader of the centrist Yesh Atid party.

"There is not a single person in the country who would vote for Naftali Bennett [...]. This is the fraud of the century! Instead of forming a dangerous left-wing government, immediately after the end of Lapid's mandate, it is possible to form a good right-wing government for Israel.

"What will it do for Israel's deterrence? How will we look in the eyes of our enemies? What will they do in Iran and in Gaza? What will they say in the halls of government in Washington?"

In order to form a government, the party-winner of the parliamentary elections must gain the support of a minimum of 61 lawmakers out of 120.

German government spokesperson Steffen Seibert told reporters:
"As a matter of principle... the federal government does not openly comment on matters concerning intelligence activities."

The report has caused outrage in Denmark and abroad. Merkel's top rival, Peer Steinbruck of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), called the revelations a "scandal."

Reports that the US National Intelligence Agency, aided by Denmark, spied on top European politicians including Angela Merkel are "extremely serious" if true, the French secretary of state for European affairs has said.

Clement Beaune said in an interview with the France Info radio network:

"We are not in a world of Care Bears, so this kind of behavior, unfortunately, can happen, and we will verify it. Between allies, there must be trust, a minimum cooperation, so these potential facts are serious. On the American side, see if indeed there was listening, spying on politicians. The situation could have consequences in terms of cooperation with the United States.

Beaune added he did not know the identity of the French officials who were allegedly spied on.

Danish Defense Minister Trine Bramsen declined to comment on what she called "speculation" about intelligence matters in the media.

The Danish Defense Intelligence Service, as well as the US' Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and the NSA, declined to comment on the media report to the news agency.

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• Belarus accused of 'hijacking' Ryanair flight after bomb threat forces landing in Belarus, EU claims blogger is arrested
• EU leaders agree to close skies & airports to Belarus over Ryanair incident, freeze €3bn investment until Minsk turns 'democratic'
• As anger toward Belarus mounts, remember the US forced landing of Bolivia's plane in an attempt to capture Snowden in 2013
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