Israel ‘Furious’ Over Trump’s Intelligence Gaffe With Russians
Image by Getty Images
Israeli intelligence experts are gravely concerned that President Donald Trump’s sharing of classified information with Russia may have compromised an Israeli agent.
The New York Times, citing a current and a former U.S. official, reported on Tuesday that the information Trump divulged came from an Israeli intelligence asset based in Islamic State-held territory in Syria.
Israeli intelligence experts said they could not confirm whether an Israeli asset was the source. But they said it was plausible that Israel had managed to infiltrate Islamic State as part of a long-running effort.
“If we have really lost a human source over there, it’s a major loss and it will take years to regenerate another one,” said Aviv Oreg, former head of the Al Qaeda and global jihad desk in the army’s military intelligence department, who now runs a counter-terrorism consultancy.
“Israel will be furious about it,” he added.
Despite the gaffe, Amnon Sofrin, former head of Mossad’s intelligence directorate, said the issue was unlikely to be touched on when Trump visits Israel.
“None of us in Israel’s intelligence community likes this event. But I think it can be put aside,” he said.
