Former CIA analyst Fred Fleitz told Newsmax on Monday that it's "dangerous" for the United States to withhold intelligence from Israel because the U.S. relies "heavily" on information the Jewish state provides.
"Israel has far superior sources than the United States does in Gaza, and I find it hard to believe, as a former CIA analyst, that the U.S. government knows much that Israel does not already know," Fleitz said during an appearance on Newsmax's "National Report."
"But assuming there's something that maybe the CIA stumbled upon that might be useful, the idea that the U.S. would withhold information on terrorists from Israel for political reasons — we all know this is all about getting Biden reelected — is just reprehensible," he said. "We rely heavily on Israel for intelligence it gives the United States and the fact that the Biden administration is playing games with this now, it's a very dangerous situation."
The Washington Post reported that the Biden administration won't share key intelligence with Israel about the whereabouts of Hamas' leadership in Gaza unless Israel agrees to call off its military operation in Rafah.
Four people familiar with the matter told the outlet that the administration is "offering Israel valuable assistance if it holds back, including sensitive intelligence to help the Israeli military pinpoint the location of Hamas leaders and find the group's hidden tunnels."
The U.S. is trying to delay the operation over concerns that Israel is not doing enough to ensure the safety of the more than 1 million Palestinians who are sheltering in Rafah amid the ongoing war with Hamas, the Post reported.
The refusal to share information comes days after the administration announced it was halting the shipment of offensive weapons to Israel over the looming operation to root out Hamas in the southern Gaza city.
"If they [the IDF] go into Rafah, I'm not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities that deal with that problem," President Joe Biden told CNN last week.
He said his administration wasn't abandoning Israel and would "continue to make sure Israel is secure in terms of Iron Dome and their ability to respond to attacks that came out of the Middle East recently."
But the president said the U.S. would not supply offensive weapons that would likely be used in Rafah.
"It's just wrong," Biden said. "We're not going to ... we're not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells."
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