Report: Israeli intelligence officials furious over Trump disclosure to Russia
Israel's intelligence agencies reportedly shouted at their American counterparts after Trump endangered 'one of their most sensitive of accesses' by revealing ISIS plot to Russian FM.
Israeli intelligence officials reportedly shouted at their American counterparts in meetings over news reports that US President Donald Trump disclosed highly classified information to Russia, possibly compromising an important source of intelligence on the Islamic State and Iran, Foreign Policy cited a US defense official as saying.
Israel, the defense official said, didn't expect Trump to endanger "one of their most sensitive of accesses."
"To them, it's horrifying," the official told Foreign Policy. "Their first question was: 'What is going on? What is this?'"
In a meeting with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavror on May 10, Trump divulged confidential information about a planned ISIS plot, which was later revealed to have been provided by Israel.
American news agencies, who attributed the information to an undercover agent in Syria, claimed that it warned ISIS was making progress on building a specialized bomb that could be masked and carried inside of laptops, which could help explain the recent US ban on large electronics on flights from Middle Eastern airports.
The defense official explained that for Israel, "ISIS is not that big of a concern. We have a partner that has done us a favor. They went out of their way to support us in a campaign against ISIS, that they have no real skin in."
The Israelis were then further angered by the fact the Trump administration failed to address the issue with them in the 48 hours that followed the breaking of the news, the defense official said.
(Translated & edited by Lior Mor)
