Pentagon raises Israel counterintelligence threat to critical level amid alleged surveillance of senior US officials and worsening Washington Tel Aviv tensions
By Amjad Qaimkhani
WASHINGTON: The Pentagon had raised its counterintelligence threat assessment for Israel to the highest level, “critical”, amid growing concerns that Israeli intelligence efforts had targeted senior US officials, media reported. The move had come as tensions had risen between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the direction of the wars in Iran and Lebanon, adding further strain to already fragile diplomatic relations.
According to local media reports, the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency had issued the new assessment in recent weeks, posting an internal message that raised Israel’s counterintelligence threat level to “critical”, the most severe designation in its system. One current US official who had seen the message said the assessment reflected concerns that Israel had the capability to conduct both human espionage and technical intelligence collection at a high level. Officials said the designation stemmed from Pentagon concerns that Israel had made a particular effort to monitor senior US officials and their internal communications.
The aim, according to officials, had been to gain insight into the Trump administration’s internal deliberations and decision-making on conflicts in the Middle East, particularly Iran and Lebanon. One official said the assessment included a seven-page document and a chart listing specific incidents that had raised US concern, though it was not clear whether any single incident had triggered the change.
Israel’s embassy in Washington strongly rejected the allegations, calling them completely false and saying Israel did not spy on the United States or collect intelligence on US officials. The Pentagon declined to comment, while a White House official also denied the report, calling it false and based on an uninformed source, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not respond.
The development came as Trump and Netanyahu clashed over Iran and Lebanon policy, with local media reporting a tense phone call in which Trump later said he had called Netanyahu “crazy”.
Officials said Israel was closely monitoring whether the US would pursue diplomacy or escalation in the region, while analysts noted that intelligence collection between allies was not uncommon but the latest assessment reflected unusually high concern.
