Sources: Info Trump Gave to Russia Came From Israeli Spy

And those sources say the intelligence wasn't supposed to be shared
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted May 17, 2017 2:01 AM CDT
Sources: Trump Shared Israeli Intelligence With Russia
President Trump shakes hands with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the White House last week.   (Russian Foreign Ministry Photo via AP)

President Trump won't be in Israel until next week, but he may have already angered his hosts: The classified information that he shared with Russian diplomats was provided by Israel, which is unlikely to be thrilled about information gathered by its spy network being given to a country with close ties to Iran, sources tell ABC and the New York Times. American officials tell ABC that Israeli intelligence about an ISIS plot to bring down an airliner with a bomb in a laptop was given to the US on the condition it remain confidential, and Trump may have endangered the life of an Israeli spy inside ISIS by sharing it with Russia.

Trump defended his "absolute right" to share intelligence Tuesday. Critics say that even if no laws were broken, Israel and other allies may now be less willing to provide the US with intelligence. He apparently didn't tell the Russians the source of the intelligence, but officials worried that he provided more than enough information for them to join the dots, the Times notes. American and Israeli officials declined to comment on the source of the intelligence, though Israeli ambassador to the US Ron Dermer says Israel still has "full confidence" in its intelligence-sharing relationship with the US, the BBC reports. (National Security Adviser HR McMaster says the real problem is the leak.)

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