IranU.S. curbing intelligence sharing with Israel as discord over Iran talks deepens
As a result of the growing tensions between the United States and Israel, and what the United States views as an improper use by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of sensitive information regarding the nuclear negotiations between the P5+1 and Iran, the White House last week begun to limit the scope, quality, and depth of the information it shares with Israel regarding the talks with Iran about the Iranian nuclear program. A senior Israeli official said that U.S. representatives continue to meet with and update their Israeli counterparts, but are passing on information about the talks “at a lower resolution.”
As a result of the growing tensions between the United States and Israel, and what the United States views as an improper use by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of sensitive information regarding the nuclear negotiations between the P5+1 and Iran, the White House last week begun to limit the scope, quality, and depth of the information it shares with Israel regarding the talks with Iran about the Iranian nuclear program.
Both Haaretz and Israeli Channel 2 TV were told by a senior Israeli about the U.S. move.
Haaretz reports that the administration has come to the conclusion that the Netanyhau government and the United States now have a fundamental, perhaps irreconcilable, conflict of interests about the Iranian issue. The P5+1 countries believe that it may be possible to constrain Iran’s nuclear program through an agreement which would involve limiting Iran’s uranium enrichment capabilities and strict monitoring of Iranian compliance.
Netanyahu, on the other hand, wants to prevent any agreement from being reached in order to push the United States to use military force to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities.
The main reason for the decision to restrict the quality and quantity of information about the talks with Iran which the United States share with Israel is fear of leaks. U.S. officials point out that Netanyahu has already selectively used information the United States shared with Israel to promote his political standing at home and undermine support in the United States for Obama’s Iran policies.
Thus, Netanyahu presented his forthcoming speech to Congress as a speech which was made necessary because the Obama administration was about to sign a bad nuclear agreement with Iran.
Analysts in Israel, however, raise questions about Netanyahu’s true motives, and that of Israel’s ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer, who used to be a Republican operative in Florida, because all of Israel’s intelligence agencies — the Mosad, the IDF’s intelligence branch, and the intelligence unit of the Foreign Ministry – after studying the U.S. reports on the negotiations with Iran, concluded that the gap between the Iranian position and the position of the P5+1 is such that the likelihood of an agreement with Iran by the deadline of 24 march is near zero.
