The classified intelligence that President Trump disclosed in a meeting last week with Russian officials at the White House was provided by Israel, according to a current and a former American official familiar with how the United States obtained the information. The revelation adds a potential diplomatic complication to the episode.
Israel is one of the United States’ most important allies and a major intelligence collector in the Middle East. The revelation that Mr. Trump boasted about some of Israel’s most sensitive information to the Russians could damage the relationship between the two countries. It also raises the possibility that the information could be passed to Iran, Russia’s close ally and Israel’s main threat in the Middle East.
Israeli officials would not confirm that they were the source of the information that Mr. Trump shared. In a statement emailed to The New York Times, Ron Dermer, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, reaffirmed that the two countries would maintain a close counterterrorism relationship.
“Israel has full confidence in our intelligence-sharing relationship with the United States and looks forward to deepening that relationship in the years ahead under President Trump,” Mr. Dermer said.
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3 Responses
Does anyone remember a guy named Jonathan Pollard? He was a US intelligence analyst who shared US intelligence with Israel and was convicted of espionage. He served 30 years, which I believe is the longest sentence ever given for peacetime espionage.
Now the US president has done a reverse-Pollard (a Drallop?), sharing Israeli intelligence with Russia. Let’s discuss: what is wrong with this picture?
The Israeli don’t want the Iranians to “win” in Syria, but they probably prefer Assad over the major alternatives (ISIS or the insurgent group allied with al Queda). Assad is basically secular, and has the support of the remaining Christians in the country (as if they have a choice in the matter). A Russian dominated Syria would be much better than an Iranian dominated one. And if Assad survives in power, he’ll be basically friendless in the Arab world – which is good for Israel.
Bottom line: Is it clear the Israelis are “outraged”, or perhaps they winked at the use of Trump to “leak” information to the Russians.
FAKE NEWS. NO SOURCE. NY TIMES ALL THE NEWS THAT’S NOT FIT TO PRINT.