“Intelligence cooperation [with the US] is terrific. It’s never been better.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

The leak

Both the Times and the Washington Post have reported that “highly classified” intelligence provided by a U.S. ally was shared with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak by Mr. Trump at a White House meeting on May 10 2017.

[The New York Times first reported that the intelligence came from Israel. The ABC news outlet then reported that the information came specifically from a spy embedded in the terrorist group on behalf of Israel.]

President Trump boasted that he had “great intel,” revealing classified information about an Islamic State threat involving bombs implanted inside laptop computers carried on airplanes.

Israeli officials shouting at their American counterparts

Danny Yatom — Former head of the Mossad — said Israel should penalize the US over Trump’s leak because his acts could endanger Israeli sources.

“We need to punish the Americans, it’s possible, so that we don’t put Trump in a position where he is again tempted, we need to abstain from transferring information to him, or to only give him partial information so that he can’t endanger any source.”

Shabtai Shavit — another former chief of the Mossad spy agency — fired off harsh criticism at Donald Trump in an interview with The Times of Israel (Wednesday May 19 2017).

Sharing Intelligence Protocol altered

“Not everything needs to be discussed in the media; some things need to be talked about in closed rooms.”

Former CIA Director John Brennan

Brennan criticized President Trump’s reported sharing of classified intelligence with Russia officials.

Brennan said if reports were accurate, Trump violated “protocols” by sharing the information with Russia’s foreign minister and ambassador to the U.S.

TIMELINE

May 9 2017 — President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey May 10 2017 — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak meet President Trump at a White House May 15 2017 — According to US media, President Trump boasted about highly classified intelligence in a meeting with the Russian foreign minister and ambassador during the May 10 meeting, providing details that could expose the source of the information and the manner in which it was collected May 16 2017 — The NYT reveals that the classified intelligence that President Trump disclosed in a meeting last week with Russian officials at the White House was provided by Israel May 16 2017 — ABC news reports that the classified information came specifically from a spy embedded in the terrorist group on behalf of Israel

REFERENCES

Israel Alters Intelligence Sharing with US — VOA

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Israel Modifies Sharing Intelligence Protocol with US after Trump’s Leak