U.S. intel officials warn Israel against sharing info with Trump due to Russia’s Relationship with Iran; Israel provided intel Trump gave to Russians
U.S. intelligence officials warn Israeli counterparts against sharing info with Trump administration.
Shared information could be leaked to Russia and onward to Iran, American officials implied to Israelis in closed meeting, saying Kremlin has ‘leverages of pressure’ over Trump, Ronen Bergman reports.
Israel was the source of the intelligence which US President Donald Trump gave to Russian officials during a meeting at the White House last week, according to a report by the New York Times.
The Times reported that US officials who are familiar with how the intelligence was collected said that the information was provided to the US by Israel, which is America’s closest ally in the Middle East.
Earlier reports stated that the intelligence had come from a US ally in the Middle East, leading to speculation that Israel may have been the source.
Israeli officials refused to comment on the report that it was Israeli intelligence which was shared with Russia. Israel’s Ambassador to the US, Ron Dermer, wrote to the New York Times that the two nations would continue to cooperate closely in the field of counter-terrorism.
“Israel has full confidence in our intelligence-sharing relationship with the US, and looks forward to deepening that relationship in the years ahead under President Trump,” Dermer told the Times.
According to a report by the Washington Post, Trump shared information about an ISIS plot to smuggle bombs aboard civilian aircraft with the Russian Ambassador and Foreign Minister. The plot involved using laptops to hide the bombs.
The US has recently banned travelers from bringing laptops on flights from a number of nations into the US.
Trump defended his actions in sharing the information as his “absolute right” in a Twitter post today.
