Israel could reduce intelligence sharing with US due to warming ties between Trump, Putin — report

Israel is considering cutting back on intelligence sharing with the United States due to concerns over the recent warming of ties between US President Donald Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, NBC reports, citing sources with knowledge of the matter.

Several other longtime US allies, including the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia, are said to be considering changes to their intelligence sharing protocols.

According to the report, among the concerns shared by various US allies is the fear that the identity of important foreign assets could be revealed, thus jeopardizing them, amid the US’s reconciliation with Russia.

Citing unnamed sources, NBC says that discussions on the potential scaling back of intelligence sharing “are already happening,” but that no decisions have been made thus far.

An Israeli official denies the report’s content, telling NBC that “cooperation between Israel and the United States on every level, including the sharing of crucial intelligence data, is as strong and solid as ever.”

The UK and Canada similarly reject the report, and there is no comment from New Zealand or Saudi Arabia.