NEWS
Pentagon Raises Alarm Over Alleged Israeli Espionage Amid Deepening Rift Over Iran War
Fresh tensions are emerging between the United States and Israel following reports that the Pentagon has elevated concerns over alleged Israeli spying activities targeting top American officials and sensitive policy discussions surrounding the Middle East crisis.
According to two current U.S. officials and one former U.S. official, the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) recently raised the counterintelligence threat level concerning Israel to the highest designation of “critical,” signaling growing fears within the American defense establishment over what officials describe as unusually aggressive surveillance efforts.
The development comes at a time when relations between U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are reportedly becoming strained over the ongoing conflict involving Iran and Israel’s military operations across the Middle East.
Officials familiar with the matter revealed that the DIA circulated an internal counterintelligence assessment in recent weeks, warning that Israel’s espionage capabilities and intelligence-gathering activities against the United States had reached what was described as a “critical level.”
The assessment reportedly included a seven-page classified document accompanied by a detailed chart outlining concerns over Israel’s capacity to conduct both human espionage and advanced technical intelligence collection operations.
U.S. officials said the review specifically highlighted fears that Israel is intensifying efforts to monitor senior American officials in order to gain access to confidential discussions and strategic decision-making within the Trump administration regarding the wars and security crises unfolding in the Middle East.
Sources familiar with the assessment said several specific incidents contributed to the heightened concerns, although officials declined to disclose whether a single event directly triggered the DIA’s decision to escalate the threat designation.
The Israeli government has strongly denied the allegations.
A spokesperson for the Israeli Embassy in Washington described the accusations as “completely false,” insisting that “Israel does not gather intelligence on American entities, let alone US government officials.”
The spokesperson further stated that “Israel intelligence collection efforts are aimed at its enemies, not its allies. Any claims to the contrary are either misinformed or politically motivated.”
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees U.S. intelligence agencies including the DIA, did not issue any public response to requests for comment.
While espionage among allies is widely recognized as a common practice in global intelligence circles, current and former U.S. officials reportedly believe Israel’s recent intelligence activities have exceeded what is typically expected between partner nations.
The latest intelligence concerns coincide with increasing policy disagreements between Washington and Tel Aviv over the future of the Iran conflict. Reports indicate that President Trump and Netanyahu recently engaged in a tense phone conversation regarding Israel’s military posture toward Iran and operations involving Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Following the call, Trump reportedly acknowledged to journalists that he referred to Netanyahu as “crazy,” fueling speculation that the strategic priorities of both governments may be drifting apart.
Since a ceasefire agreement was reached in early April, the Trump administration has reportedly focused on pursuing a diplomatic settlement with Iran aimed at ending the war launched jointly by the U.S. and Israel on February 28. However, Israeli leaders have openly questioned whether Iran can be trusted to comply with any negotiated peace arrangement.
Netanyahu is said to have pushed for renewed bombing campaigns against Iran while also disagreeing with Trump’s calls for restraint in attacks targeting Hezbollah positions in Lebanon.
According to current and former U.S. officials as well as outside intelligence experts, Israel is particularly eager to determine whether the United States plans to resume large-scale combat operations against Iran or move toward permanently winding down the conflict.
Despite the heightened counterintelligence alert, officials said there has been no visible disruption to the extensive intelligence-sharing relationship between both nations, especially regarding military and security operations tied to Iran.
However, the Pentagon is reportedly expected to enforce stricter precautions for American officials traveling to Israel or engaging directly with Israeli counterparts.
One current U.S. official noted that “The U.S. already takes extra precautions when visiting Israel,” adding that Israeli intelligence agencies are “well-known to aggressively collect.”
Experts and former diplomats say Israel has long maintained a reputation for assertive intelligence operations, even against allied countries. U.S. officials traveling to Israel have reportedly been advised over the years to use burner phones, temporary computers, and to exercise caution during conversations in hotel rooms and government facilities.
Emily Harding, vice president of the Defense and Security Department and director of the intelligence, national security and technology program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, described Israel as having “a hyper-aggressive intelligence service,” adding that Israeli agencies remain “exceedingly interested in what we are up to.”
Concerns over Israeli espionage are not new in U.S.-Israel relations. In the 1980s, the case of Jonathan Pollard caused major diplomatic tensions after he was convicted of passing highly classified U.S. documents to Israel and subsequently spent 30 years in prison.
The issue of allied espionage also gained global attention in 2013 following leaks by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, which revealed that the United States itself had conducted surveillance on allied leaders, including then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Although the United States and Israel continue to maintain one of the closest intelligence and military partnerships in the world, former U.S. officials warn that growing suspicions over espionage activities at such a delicate geopolitical moment could erode trust between both allies and complicate cooperation on Middle East security matters.