According to six people familiar with the situation, U.S. intelligence officials briefly stopped providing Israel with some crucial information during the Biden administration due to worries about how it was handling the war in Gaza.
The Israeli government was using a live video feed from a U.S. drone over Gaza to search for Hamas militants and captives when the U.S. shut it off in the second half of 2024. According to five of the reports, the suspension continued for a few days or longer.
According to two of the sources, who would not say when this decision was made, the U.S. also limited how Israel might use specific intelligence in its pursuit of high-value military targets in Gaza. Each source discussed U.S. intelligence under the condition of anonymity.
The decision was made as concerns over the number of civilians killed in Israel's military operations in Gaza grew within the U.S. intelligence community.
According to the sources, officials were also worried that Palestinian detainees were being mistreated by Israel's domestic security agency, Shin Bet.
According to three of the sources, officials were worried that Israel had not given enough guarantees that it would follow the law of war while using American material. Before sharing material with a foreign nation, intelligence services are required by U.S. law to obtain such guarantees.
According to two of the sources, the intelligence agencies choice to withhold information was tactical and restricted, even while the Biden administration continued to back Israel with intelligence and weapons sharing.
According to the sources, the authorities tried to make sure that Israel was employing American intelligence in compliance with the law of war.
According to a person with knowledge of the situation, intelligence officers are free to decide what information to share in real time without a White House directive.
According to a second person with knowledge of the situation, Israel would need new guarantees about how it would utilize U.S. intelligence if it wanted to alter how it uses it.
Reuters was unable to ascertain whether President Joe Biden was aware of the decisions or when they were made. A request for comment was not answered by a representative for Biden.
After Israel promised to abide by U.S. regulations, information exchange resumed. There has been much coverage of the Biden administration's worries with Israel's activities in Gaza, but little is known about the U.S. intelligence community's interactions with its Israeli colleagues. The intensity of intelligence officials' worry over Israel's use of American intelligence is shown by Reuters' findings.
The Israeli military press office stated that security cooperation between the United States and Israel was maintained during the conflict in Gaza, although it did not specifically address the occasions in which intelligence was withheld.
"The strategic intelligence cooperation continued throughout the war," an email from the office stated. A request for comment was not answered by the Israeli prime minister's office, which is in charge of Shin Bet.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which is in charge of U.S. intelligence, and the CIA did not reply. According to Larry Pfeiffer, a former senior National Security Agency and CIA official, the United States routinely requires receivers of U.S. intelligence to guarantee that any material they get will not be used to violate human rights "in any way shape or form."
However, analysts noted that it is uncommon to deny combat intelligence to a crucial ally, especially during a fight, and that this shows a degree of strain between the two.
Given the long-standing intelligence links between the United States and Israel and the strong bipartisan support for the nation in the wake of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel that started the conflict, such a move is also politically delicate in the case of Israel.
"Intelligence-sharing is sacred, especially with a particularly close ally in a volatile region," stated Daniel Hoffman, a former head of CIA's Middle East clandestine operations.
