In response to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s opposition to the nuclear deal he warns threatens Israel’s very existence, US President Barack Obama’s administration has reportedly cut American intelligence cooperation with Israel.
A report on Monday night by the Hebrew-language Channel 10, notes that the cooperation between Israeli and American intelligence agencies until now has aided the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in formulating reports on Iran’s nuclear program, reports that advanced the sanctions against the Islamic regime.
At the moment, while Israel is cooperating with various countries in terms of intelligence on Iran’s nuclear program, the cooperation with the United States has stopped according to the report.
In closed conversations senior sources in the White House have expressed concerns that Netanyahu will reveal details Obama has kept secret from the nuclear deal being sealed with Iran, according to the news channel.
While US Secretary of State John Kerry has claimed Israel isn’t familiar with the details of the plan, that claim was undermined when Kerry on Monday asked Netanyahu not to reveal certain details in his Congress speech Tuesday.
According to senior Israeli sources cited in the report, Obama has not only made clear he will not meet with Netanyahu, but is even refusing to talk with the Israeli prime minister on the telephone during his visit.
The report is not the first indicating a harsh backlash by the Obama administration against Netanyahu’s opposition to the nuclear deal.
On Monday the US denied Israeli reports that it plans to cut defense aid to Israel over the disagreement. Previously another report by a Kuwaiti paper claimed that Obama had threatened to shoot down an IAF strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities; the US denied that report as well.
Israel warns that the Iranian deal will leave Iran with nuclear breakout capability, by which it will be able to continue enriching uranium and produce a nuclear weapon within a very short window of time at the moment of its choosing.
Likewise Netanyahu has pointed out that Iran has threatened Israel with annihilation on many occasions, even as it advances its nuclear program and continues to be the leading state sponsor of terrorism.
