Thomson Reuters
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs a weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem
Israel was reportedly the source of the highly classified intelligence President Donald Trump disclosed to Russian diplomats last week. It was also reportedly warned months ago by US intelligence officials not to share classified information with Trump, for fear it might be leaked to Russia."Donald Trump's upcoming inauguration as the next president of the United States is causing Israeli intelligence officials to lose sleep as well," Ronen Bergman reported for the Israeli news outlet YNet on January 12.
"Discussions held in closed forums recently raised fears of a leakage of Israeli intelligence top-classified information, clandestine modus operandi and sources, which have been exposed to the American intelligence community over the past 15 years, to Russia - and from there to Iran," the report said.
According to The Washington Post, that has played out almost exactly as feared - though it is unclear if the Russians have since relayed that intelligence to Iran.
The Post reported Monday night that Trump's disclosures to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador Sergei Kislyak "jeopardized a critical source of intelligence on the Islamic State" and "had been provided by a US partner through an intelligence-sharing arrangement considered so sensitive that details have been withheld from allies and tightly restricted even within the US government."
US officials apparently briefed their Israeli counterparts before Trump's inauguration about their belief that Russian President Vladimir Putin had "leverages of pressure" over Trump. Trump's meeting with Lavrov and Kislyak last week, during which he disclosed the Israeli intelligence, was reportedly requested by Putin.
Bergman reported:
"The Americans implied that their Israeli colleagues should "be careful" as of January 20, Trump's inauguration date, when transferring intelligence information to the White House and to the National Security Council (NSC), which is subject to the president. According to the Israelis who were present in the meeting, the Americans recommended that until it is made clear that Trump is not inappropriately connected to Russia and is not being extorted - Israel should avoid revealing sensitive sources to administration officials for fear the information would reach the Iranians."
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shakes hands during a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017.
National security adviser Gen. H.R. McMaster has denied Trump revealed intelligence sources and methods in his conversations with the Russians. But when asked by a reporter on Tuesday whether Trump revealed the particular city in which a US ally detected an ISIS plot - which experts say could jeopardize that ally's sources and methods - McMaster replied that what Trump discussed with the Russians about the Islamic State "was nothing you would not know from open-source reporting.""All of you are familiar with the threat from ISIS," McMaster said. "All of you are very familiar with the territory it controls. If you were to say, 'Hey, from where do you think a threat might come, from territory that ISIS controls, you would probably be able to name a few cities."
"It had all to do with operations that were already ongoing and had been made public for months," McMaster claimed.
But the information Trump relayed to the Russian diplomats was reportedly "code-word" information - one of the highest classification levels used by the US intelligence community.
Reached for comment, Israeli ambassador Ron Dermer told the Times that "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."
More from Natasha Bertrand:
- Trump's national security adviser: He 'wasn't even aware' of where information he shared with Russians came from
- Trump's national security adviser: He 'wasn't even aware' of where information he shared with Russians came from
- McCain issues blistering statement about 'deeply disturbing' conversation between Trump and Russians
- National security experts: Trump's sharing classified info with Russia 'may breach his oath of office'
- An FBI director has been fired only once before - and it was under dramatically different circumstances