Israel’s Defense Minister: Israeli And American Intel Cooperation Remains Unchanged
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By Naomi Zeveloff May 17, 2017
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman maintained that Israeli and American security cooperation will not change in light of revelations that President Trump gave sensitive Israeli information to the Russians on the Islamic State threat.
“Security ties between Israel and its biggest ally the U.S. are deep, significant and unprecedented in their scope and their value to our strength. That is how it was and that is how it will remain,” Lieberman Tweeted on Wednesday.
The Israeli intelligence community is reportedly reeling since Trump made the disclosure to Russian officials at a White House meeting. One serious repercussion is that Russia could share the information with Iran, which could share it with Hezbollah. The latter two are Israel’s sworn enemies.
A story in BuzzFeed quoted an Israeli military source who said that Israeil intelligence officers were “boiling mad and demanding answers” about whether the intelligence sharing relationship would remain as is with the United States.
Israeli intelligence officials have been concerned for months that the Trump White House could risk Israeli information.
Contact Naomi Zeveloff at zeveloff@forward.com or on Twitter @naomizeveloff
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