Ted Cruz Refuses to Denounce Israel for 'Spying' on Americans: 'Every One of Our Friends Spy on Us'

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz refused to say whether he believes it is OK for Mossad, Israel's national intelligence agency, to "spy" on Americans, including the U.S. president.

Clips from a Tucker Carlson interview with Cruz have gone viral. In one, Carlson asks the right-wing senator if it's OK with him that Israel spies on Americans domestically, including President Donald Trump and past presidents.

"One of the things about being a conservative is that you're not naive and utopian," Cruz responded. "You don't think humans are all—part of the reason socialism doesn't work is the mantra 'from each according to his abilities to each according to his needs' doesn't work. As a conservative, I assume people act in their rational self-interest."

"So it's conservative to pay people to spy on you?" Tucker asked pointedly, referencing the billions in military aid the U.S. sends to Israel, the largest cumulative recipient of American foreign assistance. In 1999, the two countries signed an agreement committing the U.S. to provide at least $2.7 billion in annual military aid for a decade. That amount was increased to $3 billion in 2009, and again to a minimum of $3.8 billion in 2019. In 2024, U.S. military aid to Israel surged to a record $17.9 billion.

"It's conservative to recognize that human beings act in their own self-interest and every one of our friends spies on us," Cruz responded.

Carlson asked Cruz, who had earlier stated that his guiding principle is whether something serves America's interest, whether it was in the U.S.' interest for Israel to spy on the nation and its president.

"It's in America's interest to be closely allied to Israel because we get huge benefits from it," Cruz stated, without elaborating on what those benefits are.

"It takes place, as you know, including on the president of the United States and several presidents, and I just want to know if that's OK and why is it OK? Wouldn't an American lawmaker say to a client state, 'you're not allowed to spy on us. I'm sorry, I know why you want to, I'm not mad at you, but you're not allowed to. And I don't care for it. I don't want to be spied on by you.' It's kind of weird not to say that but you don't seem able to say that," Carlson continued.

Cruz also acknowledged that Mossad does not share all of its intelligence with the United States, just as the U.S. doesn't share all of its intelligence with Israel, but emphasized, "We share a lot." He also revealed that the two nations spy on each other, adding that he assumes "all of our allies spy on us," though he offered no evidence to support the claim.