U.S. curbing intelligence sharing with Israel as discord over Iran talks deepens

The Israeli intelligence services advised Netanyahu not to accept the invitation, which Dermer persuaded Speaker John Boehner to extend, to appear before Congress, arguing that it would be better for Israel, and much better for the P5+1 – especially the United States — if Iranian recalcitrance rather than domestic political squabbles in the United States between Republicans in Congress and President Obama would be blamed for the failure of Iran and the P5+1 to reach an agreement.

The United States was growing increasingly worried that Netanyahu will escalate his selective leaking of sensitive information which the United States share with Israel in the weeks ahead, as he is now engaged in two campaigns: a political campaign at home, where his Likud Party is tied with its main rival, the center-left Zionist Camp, the main component of which is the Labor Party.

The second campaign Netanyahu has been engaged in is an effort to weaken President Obama and strengthen his opponents – the GOP in Congress – in order not only to prevent any agreement with Iran, but also to weaken the administration’s ability to exert pressure on Israel to reach an agreement with the Palestinians.

Administration officials also complained that some reports in the Israeli press described an Iranian proposal regarding how many centrifuges Iran would be allowed to retain as if it were a U.S. proposal. In other words, the number of centrifuges the Iranian said they would want to keep was described as the number of centrifuges the United States was willing to have Iran keep.

There was no doubt among senior American officials as to the source of the leak and the distorted information, and the purpose of both.

A senior Israeli official told Haaretz 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.”

Amnon Abramovich, the journalist who broke the story on Channel 2 TV, reported that the White House and the State Department decided to cut off completely any communication with Israel on the Iranian issue. Both the White House and the State Department, however denied that the exchange of intelligence information with Israel would be cut off completely – but they refused to address the issue of the quality and quantity of information which would be shared.

Both the White House and the State Department noted that Susan Rice, Obama’s national security adviser, was in contact with Yossi Cohen, her Israeli counterpart, and Philip Gordon, Obama’s coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa and the Persian Gulf, met with Cohen on Monday in Jerusalem.

Sources in the Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office said that “the strategic relationship between Israel and the U.S. runs deep, and as part of the close ties, this week National Security Advisor Yossi Cohen will meet with his White House counterpart Susan Rice and with Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman.”

Yesterday saw a change of leadership at the IDF. General Benny Gantz retired after four years at the helm, replaced by General Gadi Eisenkot. Gen. Ganz has a deserved reputation for being measured, low-key, and understated. His farewell address to dignitaries gathered to see him off was also not the occasion for engaging in a debate with his former boss. Still, Gen. Ganz, in his quiet, diplomatic way, left no doubt as to what he thought of Netanyahu’s handling of the relationship with the United States: “When we will be called upon to address distant challenges, it is important, at the same time, that we should know to extend a hand to allies, create solution-advancing areas of common interest, and the ability to guarantee that our people will not dwell alone.”

Haaretz’s defense correspondence, Amos Harel, writes: “[Ganz’s] message – and this my interpretation, not necessarily the speaker’s [Ganz]: We will manage the on-going, routine security issues, but distant threats should be addressed together with the United States, so that we will not find ourselves dealing with them by ourselves alone.”