"'There is an enormous amount of sharing of intelligence,' said the former ambassador. 'Israeli intelligence has high-quality technology; Israeli technology is high quality; joint training – our forces training with Israel and learning from them as they learned from us. Benefits and this relationship flow both ways. And so, in that regard, the US assistance program to Israel is not an act of altruism. While it is certainly generous on the part of the American taxpayers, and we should feel good [...]

“‘It doesn’t significantly affect the breakout timeline, but Fordo has always been one of the most sensitive aspects of the nuclear program because of its hardened, underground nature and the difficulty of destroying it,' said Dan Shapiro, a former US ambassador to Israel and current fellow at Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies think tank. “‘The danger is that this is one important, symbolic step that will be followed by more,' Shapiro told The Times of Israel on Tuesday [...]

"Daniel Shapiro, former U.S. ambassador to Israel and visiting fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, said American military support largely deals with longer range threats from Lebanon, Syria, Iran and, in part, the Gaza Strip, with little impact or influence on Israeli policies and actions in the West Bank. “‘If, tomorrow, we said none of our funds could be used to support annexation, we could still provide the same amount,' he wrote in an email to [...]