Visegrád 24@visegrad24
Yesterday’s news about Israel ending all defense procurement from France signals worsening relations with parts of Europe, which if left unchecked could end in cooperation also disappearing in other areas.
One dangerous scenario is the one in which Israel ceases providing its European allies with intelligence on Islamist terror cells active in the West, causing the European continent’s security landscape to deteriorate sharply.
Israel’s Mossad and military intelligence routinely share high-value, actionable data. The scope of it is much larger than is publicly acknowledged.
European security services have received this type of information through decades of bilateral ties and longstanding mechanisms such as the post-1970s Kilowatt network and ongoing bilateral ties.
Recent examples include the 2025 Mossad-led disruption of extensive Hamas terror infrastructures in Germany and Austria, where European raids seized weapons caches and arrested operatives preparing attacks. Similar cooperation has repeatedly foiled Iranian- and Hezbollah-linked plots across the EU.
Israel’s penetration of these networks is unmatched. Through superior HUMINT, cyber infiltration, and supply-chain subversion (as seen in the 2024 Hezbollah pager operation and targeted assassinations), the Mossad maintains deep access to Hamas external operations, Hezbollah’s European cells and Iranian proxy structures.
Western agencies, constrained by cultural, linguistic, and legal barriers, rely heavily on this Israeli input to map sleeper cells, financing routes, and radicalization pipelines. These threats are increasingly embedded within migrant communities from Shia and Sunni regions.
Without this stream of intelligence, many plots currently thwarted would succeed.
Terror attacks would surge, as evidenced by the dozens of foiled incidents Israel has credited with preventing in Europe alone over recent years.
In the context of Iran-backed efforts to foment an Islamic revolution by leveraging demographic growth, parallel societies and sectarian voting blocs.
European security services would face overload, forcing reactive rather than preventive postures. The asymmetry is stark in the current information exchange agreement, with Europe gaining critical early warning while Israel has been hoping for good will in exchange.
Israel’s withdrawal from the current information-sharing framework would expose a vulnerability its European allies have long taken for granted.
