Israel ‘furious’ with White House for leak on Syria strike

[Jesus Malverde]

Jerusalem considers administration’s confirmation of Israeli air attack on missile stores to be ‘scandalous’; TV analyst warns US risks starting ‘major flare-up’

Israel is fuming with the White House for confirming that it was the Israeli Air Force that struck a military base near the Syrian port city of Latakia on Wednesday, hitting weaponry that was set to be transferred to Hezbollah.

Israel has not acknowledged carrying out the strike, one of half a dozen such attacks widely ascribed to Israel in recent months, but an Obama administration official told CNN on Thursday that Israeli warplanes had indeed attacked the Syrian base, and that the target was “missiles and related equipment” set for delivery to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Israel’s Channel 10 TV on Friday night quoted Israeli officials branding the American leak as “scandalous.” For Israel’s ally to be acting in this way was “unthinkable,” the officials were quoted as saying.

A second TV report, on Israel’s Channel 2, said the leak “came directly from the White House,” and noted that “this is not the first time” that the administration has compromised Israel by leaking information on such Israeli Air Force raids on Syrian targets.

It said some previous leaks were believed to have come from the Pentagon, and that consideration had been given at one point to establishing a panel to investigate the sources.

Channel 2′s military analyst, Roni Daniel, said the Obama administration’s behavior in leaking the information was unfathomable.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-furious-with-white-house-for-leak-on-syria-strike/

[DonViejo]

1. Will Netanyahu do an impression of Nikita Kruschev...

take off his shoe and beat it on his desk at the U.N.?

[spanone]

2. like, no one would suspect them....

[malaise]

4. I can't wait for the day when all that aid is cut

Fugg BiBi

[NightWatcher]

3. They can bite my ass. Our DoD is not a division of their government

[gopiscrap]

5. Fuck Israel!!!

[2naSalit]

6. Call the

Whaaaaambulance!

[mitchtv]

7. I guess Bibi

shouldn't have campaigned for Romney like he did

[PeteSelman]

8. So they think they can just attack people and not have to be responsible?

Or should we be taking the blame?

Just who do they expect they are? If you're going to do shit, own it.

[bowens43]

9. who the cares what Israel thinks? Fuck them.

[Behind the Aegis]

10. How surprising.

[Jesus Malverde]

11. Israel outing Turkey in the raid... and remember the Azerbaijani leaks...I don't

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu categorically denied claims that his country cooperated with Israel in Thursday’s attack on a Syrian missile base, saying Turkey would never help the Jewish state against a Muslim country.

“There is an attempt to give the impression that Turkey has coordinated with Israel,” the Hurriyet Daily News quoted him Saturday as saying at a press conference with visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

“We have issues with Syria, an issue based on a principle. But let me say it clearly: The Turkish government has never cooperated with Israel against any Muslim country, and it never will,” he said.

On Thursday, the Lebanese television station MTV cited Israeli officials who allegedly claimed that Turkey had supported the strike by providing Israel with critical information.

http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Turkey-denies-cooperating-with-Israel-in-strike-on-Syria-air-base-330416

That US officials were placing responsibility for the attack on Israel’s shoulders raised “very disturbing questions” and affected “trust between allies,” an unnamed Israeli official was quoted as saying Saturday in the British newspaper The Guardian.

“Sharing information is embedded in the nature of the relationship between Israel and the US,” the official said. “It’s like a big pipeline that’s open to permanent flow. So disclosing information is a cause for dismay.”

This would not be the first time Israel was alarmed at a US penchant to leak sensitive information. Last April, Israeli officials expressed concern following a spate of high-profile reports quoting senior US officials discussing a possible Israeli military operation against Iran, including one in the US journal Foreign Policy claiming that Israel had secured the use of airbases in Azerbaijan for a possible attack on the Islamic Republic.