Ex-Mossad Chief: US-Israel Cooperation ‘Never Better’
Military, intelligence and security cooperation between Israel and the United States has never been as strong as it is today, Ephriam Halevy, the former Mossad director, told a meeting of Israel Policy Forum in New York on Monday.
Israel owes Barack Obama incredible gratitude for his direct intercession with Egyptian authorities this past weekend, which is the only thing responsible for the rescue of the Israelis at the Cairo Embassy, Halevy said, according to Elihu Davison of Morristown, NJ, an IPF founder. If Obama had not acted as quickly and effectively as he did, those Israeli diplomats would have come home in body bags, and the Israeli government could not have survived that, said Halevy, who headed Israel’s National Security Council under Ariel Sharon.
Halevy said he considered the presidential intervention extraordinary because the President made the phone call to Cairo within moments of speaking to Netanyahu and did not wait for any consultation with allies or with in-house foreign policy staff. Surprisingly, and unfortunately, he added, there has been scant mention of this mitzvah in the American media.