Fearing leaks, U.S. ‘limiting’ information it shares with Israel on Iran nuke talks
The Americans fear Netanyahu will make use of the information given to Israel for his own political needs, and will try to undermine the talks between Iran and the big powers.
As a result of the recent tension between the United States and Israel, the White House has begun to limit the scope, quality and depth of the information it shares with Jerusalem about the progress of the talks with Iran about its nuclear program, senior Israeli officials involved in the issue have told Haaretz.
The administration apparently believes that Israel and the U.S. now have a conflict of interests regarding the Iranian issue, the source said. While U.S. President Barack Obama wants to make every effort to reach a nuclear agreement with Iran, Netanyahu is doing everything he can to block one.
One of the main reasons for the decision to limit the information the U.S. shares with Israel on the nuclear talks is a fear of leaks. The Americans fear that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will make use of the information given to Israel for his own political needs, and will try to undermine the talks between Iran and the big powers.
In recent weeks the Americans felt that information given to Israel about the talks – like, for example, the new proposal Iran had submitted regarding the centrifuges it would be allowed to retain – is finding its way to the Israeli media as part of what looks like an effort by Netanyahu to scuttle the talks.
The senior Israeli official said that the Americans continue to meet with and update their Israeli counterparts, but are passing on information about the talks “at a lower resolution.”
Journalist Amnon Abramovich first reported on the deterioration in the Israel-U.S. discourse regarding the Iranian issue. His report on Channel 2 stated that the White House and the State Department decided to totally cut off communications with Israel on the matter, and that Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, who heads the American negotiations team, ceased updating her Israeli counterparts on the topic of the Iran talks.
Both the White House and the State Department hastened to deny that there had been a decision to sever ties with Israel over the Iranian issue, pointing out several instances of U.S. officials who have recently met or soon will be meeting with National Security Adviser Yossi Cohen, and noting that Secretary of State John Kerry continues to speak with Netanyahu about Iran. But the U.S. officials did not address the issue of the quality of information being transfered.
The issue of Iran information arises as the tension between the White House and Netanyahu has reached a fever pitch. House Speaker John Boehner threw more fuel on the fire on Sunday when he told Fox News that he had asked Israeli Ambassador to Washington Ron Dermer not to inform the Obama administration about their contacts regarding Netanyahu’s planned speech to a joint session of Congress, to avoid White House “interference.”
“I wanted to make sure there is no interference,” Boehner said on Fox’s Sunday morning program. “There is no secret here about the animosity that this White House has for Netanyahu, and I didn’t want them getting in the way and quashing what I thought was a real opportunity.”
Boehner’s remarks contradict the earlier claim made by him and his staff that he had given the White House sufficient warning about the Netanyahu invitation. In reality, they updated the administration about the speech only an hour before announcing it to the press.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin added his voice to the critics of Netanyahu’s planned speech to Congress on Sunday.
“If we find it necessary to speak on relevant international platforms about the risks and dangerous threats facing us, then we are required even more to speak directly, patiently and in Hebrew to our citizens at home,” Rivlin said.
(Note from Ben: “I smile to think of the possibility that these two despicable top players in the Beast System are not getting along. However, even if it is true, it won’t last long. In 2016 a Republican (probably Jeb Bush) will be back in the White House. Republicans are avowed Zionists, and Jeb is totally dedicated to Israel. He will immediately renew the marriage vows between Israel and the GOP, and the two war-mongering mad men will escalate the conspiracy to create even more chaos and destruction. But they need to cut down Iran before going militarily after Russia. Thus, John Boehner (Rep) has invited Netanyahu to give Congress a pep talk about going after Iran.”)
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