The US Army was angered with the Israeli intelligence agency, the Mossad, for a failed operation it had carried out in a Middle Eastern country and which undermined both parties, revealed political sources in Tel Aviv.
The Mossad failed because it did not coordinate the operation with US forces deployed in that country, reported a high-ranking official in the Israeli army.
According to a report published on Tuesday by Amir Oren, a writer for Walla News, the Israeli army fears a setback in the close relations with its American counterpart and the Pentagon.
Some of the first signs of this setback emerged recently and impacted ties between the Israeli military and Mossad director Yossi Cohen due to the latter’s actions.
An official in the army accused the Mossad of having a flaw in its performance that is jeopardizing the delicate ties with the National Security Agency (NSA) in Washington and the region.
Oren spoke of a “hidden” tensions between the Israeli army and Mossad on leading contacts with the American security agencies and the recent dispute with the US aggravated them.
Daily contacts are made via the Israeli army, namely the department of operations and planning and the military attache in Washington. While the Mossad carries on its communication through its director with the CIA envoy in Tel Aviv, and also through head of the Mossad Mission at the Israeli Embassy in Washington with the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) at the CIA’s headquarters. Occasionally, direct contact is made between Cohen and CIA Director Gina Haspel.
Oren added that the issue of Israeli-American coordination was brought up after the Israeli army carried out an operation in a region of operation of the US Central Command.
This could be understood as a hint of Israeli involvement in the recent blasts that took place in Iraq and that targeted Popular Mobilization Forces positions.
The Central Command is critical about violating the sovereignty of countries in its area of operations, which does not border Israel.
The Israeli operation, therefore, angered the Pentagon and it has rejected all excuses and apologies.
This tension coincides with another debate between Tel Aviv and Washington on American-Iranian ties.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been very concerned with signs that US President Donald Trump was ready to open a new chapter in relations with Iran and abandoning the hardline policy adopted by the premier, revealed the sources.
These concerns increased on Monday when French President Emmanuel Macron announced a plan to hold a summit between Trump and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani.
