Israel seeks to contain fallout from Trump intel sharing

Israel sought today to contain the fallout from Donald Trump's sharing of its intelligence with Russia after the move cast a further shadow over the US president's visit to the country next week.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump spoke by phone yesterday afternoon, a spokesman for the premier's office said, while stressing that they only discussed next week's trip during the 20-minute conversation.
But as the news emerged that Israel was the initial source of the intelligence provided to Russia, other Israeli officials spoke of their commitment to continuing security cooperation between their country and Washington.
Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said security ties would continue to be "unprecedented" in scope.

But he made no mention of Trump divulging intelligence to Russia that a US administration official said had originally come from Israel.
"The security relationship between Israel & our greatest ally the United States, is deep, significant & unprecedented in volume," Lieberman wrote on his Twitter account.

The relationship "is unprecedented in its contribution to our strength. This is how it has been & how it will continue to be," he added.
Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz said he had "complete confidence in the American intelligence community".
Netanyahu's office had not responded to requests for comment on the intelligence sharing.