Yossi
Cohen, the head of the Mossad, at a committee meeting at the Israeli
parliament behind Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Yonatan
Sindel/Flash90)
The head of the Mossad, Israel’s
international intelligence agency, traveled to New York to meet with
President-elect Donald Trump’s staff for an intelligence briefing on
Middle East issues last week, reported Ynet News.
Mossad chief Yossi Cohen,
accompanied by a high-ranking security delegation from Israel, briefed
Trump’s team on the Iranian nuclear deal, Syria’s civil war, terror
threats in the region, and the Palestinian conflict. The meeting, not
highly publicized, was discreetly arranged by Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu.
Israeli Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer was also present at the briefing, which took place at Trump Tower in Manhattan.
Also on the agenda was an appeal by
the Israeli delegation requesting Trump help oppose a UN Security
Council resolution due to come up for a vote before Trump’s
inauguration. The resolution labels communities in Judea and Samaria
illegal and in effect calls on the international community to boycott
Israel.
Israeli officials and pro-Israel American lawmakers,
concerned that President Barack Obama will chose not to veto the
proposal as he has in the past, have urged the White House to continue upholding Israel’s interests at the UN in the administration’s last days.
Many pro-Israel groups believe the
future Trump administration will represent a sea change for US-Israel
relations, which, while always close, cooled during Obama’s tenure.
Trump has already signaled that he is serious about his campaign promise
to move the American embassy to Jerusalem and has appointed as ambassador David Friedman, a religious Jew expected to strongly support hardline measures in favor of settlements and a Jewish Jerusalem.
Source: Breaking Israel
News