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Israeli officials warned not to share intelligence with White House

Move follows reports that Trump revealed classified information to Russia

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Israeli intelligence officials have been warned by their American counterparts not to share information with the Trump administration, according to media reports.

Suggestions that the US president revealed to Russia highly classified information about an operation to deal with Islamic State have caused ripples of unease in the Israeli intelligence community.

American officials implied during a closed meeting with Israel that shared information could be leaked to Russia and then onward to Iran, Yediot Ahronot reported.

Concerns that the Kremlin has influence over Donald Trump are based on longstanding suspicions of reported ties between Putin and his American counterpart.

Israel has previously shared details of its clandestine methods of operation and intelligence sources with America.

According to Yediot, the officials hinted that Israel should “be careful” about transferring intelligence information to the White House and the National Security Council (NSC) until the true relationship between Washington and Moscow is ascertained.

Yediot reported that the unidentified US officials expressed despair at Mr Trump’s election during the meeting. They spoke of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “leverages of pressure” over the billionaire.

Mossad director Danny Yatom told The Jerusalem Post: “If someone gives the US very sensitive information…it is prohibited to give the information to a third party – for sure not to Russia who has ties with Iran and Syria.”

The former Mossad director added that “if the information is sensitive, it can harm the security of the intelligence source or lead to other damage”.

This would be of concern to all US allies, including Israel, who are sharing intelligence with the Trump administration.

The intelligence communities of both countries have worked closely over the last 20 years, directing much of their attention towards Iran.  

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