A former CIA station chief has warned that British sanctions on West Bank settlements could severely damage the intelligence-sharing relationship between the UK and Israel.
Ralph Goff issued a stark warning during an interview with The Times, saying Mossad has “stronger” capabilities than its UK counterpart.
“Israel would cut off intelligence-sharing [if diplomatic ties worsened],” he said.
“I think Britain benefits most but only if we take Iran into consideration, where Israel has stronger capabilities, especially cyber.”
Goff’s comments came as Israeli President Isaac Herzog told the BBC that while “nobody wants to hurt national security interests,” Israel was “extremely insulted” by the sanctions, which he said were “not necessary”.
“I think this ongoing bashing of Israel on so many topics in a judgemental way, which is unfair, should not have happened,” he went on. “I hope we will be able to go back on track in due course.
“We have excellent co-operation on the intelligence level with high mutual respect; nobody wants to hurt national security interests, but at the end there is always some interaction between political level and professional level.”
After the sanctions were announced, it was reported that security sources had warned the government of potential consequences in regard to MI6’s relationship with Mossad.
Quoting a Labour source close to the intelligence service, The Spectator reported: “[MI6] presented warnings about the consequences” of the measures and said that MI6 officials are “pulling their hair out”.
Nonetheless, Miliband went ahead with imposing sanctions as part of what ministers have termed a “reset” of the UK’s relationship with Israel.
The foreign secretary then doubled down on the decision during his speech to the Labour Party conference earlier this week, telling pro-Palestine campaigners “you were right”.
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