Israel alarmed by Trump intel leak, plays it down

Israel sought yesterday to contain the fallout from Donald Trump’s sharing of its intelligence with Russia after the move cast a further shadow over the US president’s visit to the country next week. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump spoke by phone on Tuesday afternoon, a spokesman for the premier’s office said, while stressing that they only discussed next week’s trip during the 20-minute conversation.

But as the news emerged that Israel was the initial source of the intelligence provided to Russia, other Israeli officials spoke of their commitment to continuing security cooperation between their country and Washington. Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said security ties would continue to be “unprecedented” in scope. But he made no mention of Trump divulging intelligence to Russia that a US administration official said had originally come from Israel.

“The security relationship between Israel & our greatest ally the United States, is deep, significant & unprecedented in volume,” Lieberman wrote on his Twitter account. The relationship “is unprecedented in its contribution to our strength. This is how it has been & how it will continue to be,” he added. Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz said he had “complete confidence in the American intelligence community”. Netanyahu’s office had not responded to requests for comment on the intelligence sharing.

The United States is Israel’s most important ally, providing it with more than $3 billion in defense aid each year. The story grabbed the front pages of every major Israeli newspaper, with the exception of the pro-Netanyahu freesheet Israel Hayom. The Washington Post reported late Monday that Trump revealed what it said was highly classified information on the Islamic State group during a meeting last week with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Moscow’s Washington ambassador Sergey Kislyak.