What Intel Leak Means for US-Israel Relations

The Pentagon is investigating the leak of intelligence related to an upcoming Israeli attack on Iran. According to officials, it was the responsibility of the United States to keep the information secure.

The leak likely “profoundly” damaged US-Israel relations during the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, says Victoria Coates, the Heritage Foundation’s vice president for the Institute on National Security and Foreign Policy. The leak is “very, very concerning,” he says.

After Iran fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on October 1, the Jewish state announced it would respond. The leaked documents do not include specific targets that Israel plans to attack, but they do include surveillance information.

The release of this information has “definitely” changed Israel’s original response plan, Coates says.

“The Iranians clearly have this information,” he says. “We don’t know what other information they have, and so I think Israel can and should take the time it needs to develop an alternative plan.”

Coates joins this episode of “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss how the US will find the leaker and what the Biden-Harris administration can do to repair relations with Israel. He also discusses Israel’s strategy to attack the financial assets of a second terrorist group, Hezbollah, in the northern Jewish state of Lebanon.

Listen to the podcast below: