{"id":849655,"date":"2026-06-07T01:04:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T01:04:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/849655\/"},"modified":"2026-06-07T01:04:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T01:04:20","slug":"pentagon-raises-threat-assessment-of-israeli-spying-on-us-to-critical-level-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/849655\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon raises threat assessment of Israeli spying on US to ‘critical’ level \u2014 report"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pentagon in recent weeks raised the counterintelligence threat level from Israel to its highest designation, \u201ccritical,\u201d amid growing tensions between the US and Israel over the direction of the wars in Iran and Lebanon, NBC<\/a> reported Saturday, citing current and former US officials.<\/p>\n

The officials said the new designation stems from heightened concerns in the Pentagon that Israel is spying on top US officials in a bid to gather information on internal US deliberations about the regional conflicts.<\/p>\n

According to the report, the Pentagon\u2019s Defense Intelligence Agency raised the level for Israel in recent weeks to \u201ccritical\u201d in an internal message.<\/p>\n

One of the current US officials was cited as saying the Pentagon\u2019s assessment includes a seven-page document that describes a series specific incidents that raised US concern.<\/p>\n

Officials told the network that Israeli intelligence-gathering efforts were viewed as exceeding the level of espionage normally expected between allied nations, though they said it was unclear whether any single incident prompted the threat-level increase.<\/p>\n

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One of the officials that Israel has stepped up its efforts to spy on is US President Donald Trump\u2019s special envoy Steve Witkoff, The New York Times<\/a> reported Saturday, citing other officials who corroborated the NBC report. Witkoff has been heavily involved in negotiations with Iran, and has led the US negotiating teams in talks between Israel and Hamas, as well as between Russia and Ukraine.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tUS Special Envoy Steve Witkoff speaks at the Board of Peace meeting during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on January 22, 2026. (Mandel NGAN \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

Citing US intelligence reports, the Times said Washington is also concerned Israel is stepping up efforts to listen in on United States Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby, and one of his deputies, Michael P. DiMino IV.<\/p>\n

One senior official quoted by the Times said that the aggressiveness of Israel\u2019s intelligence gathering on US officials since Trump entered office last year is \u201cunhinged.\u201d<\/p>\n

The White House and Israel\u2019s embassy in the US both vehemently denied the NBC report, while the Pentagon declined to comment, the network said.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC, said in a statement to NBC that it is \u201ccompletely false\u201d that Israel spies on the US.<\/p>\n

\u201cIsrael does not gather intelligence on American entities, let alone US government officials,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cIsrael\u2019s intelligence collection efforts are aimed at its enemies, not its allies. Any claims to the contrary are either misinformed or politically motivated.\u201d<\/p>\n

A White House official said in a statement, \u201cThis entire story is false and sourced to someone who doesn\u2019t have any knowledge of what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The officials told NBC that the most likely outcome of the new assessment is that US officials will take more precautions when traveling to Israel or meeting Israeli officials.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe US already takes extra precautions when visiting Israel,\u201d one of the current US officials said. \u201cThey\u2019re well-known to aggressively collect.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the officials said that there\u00a0did not appear to be any impact on the high-level intelligence-sharing that occurs on a daily basis between the two countries, particularly associated with the war in Iran.<\/p>\n

Israel also has a long-standing commitment not to engage in any intelligence operations in the US that was put in place amid the damage caused to the relationship between the two countries in the wake of the Jonathan Pollard scandal.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tJonathan Pollard, a former US Navy analyst who spent three decades in prison for spying for Israel, poses for a picture in Jerusalem, on November 2, 2025. (Yossi Aloni\/Flash90)<\/p>\n

In 1985, Pollard, then an intelligence analyst for the US Navy, was arrested and charged with spying for the Israeli Mossad intelligence service. He pleaded guilty a year later and served a total of 30 years in prison before his release in 2015. The incident remains a source of contention between Israeli and American intelligence services in what is otherwise considered one of the closest defense relationships in the world.<\/p>\n

The threat-level reassessment came amid growing friction between US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the future of the war with Iran and Israel\u2019s military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu has reportedly pushed for renewed strikes on Iran and disagreed with Trump\u2019s efforts to pursue a diplomatic agreement with Tehran, while also resisting US pressure to scale back operations in Lebanon.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\t(L) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Dec. 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo\/Alex Brandon)<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, Trump confirmed<\/a> that he called Netanyahu \u201cfucking crazy\u201d during a tense phone call about Israel\u2019s conflict with Hezbollah, but added that he respects Netanyahu and works \u201cvery well\u201d with him.<\/p>\n

Axios\u2019s Barak Ravid cited a US official who summarized Trump\u2019s message to Netanyahu as follows: \u201cYou\u2019re fucking crazy. You\u2019d be in prison if it weren\u2019t for me. I\u2019m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The phone call took place against the background of an escalating conflict in Lebanon, where Israel had threatened to strike the capital, Beirut, in response to deadly drone and rocket attacks by the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group. Iran linked the spiraling situation to its own war with the US, claiming it would not continue to negotiate for a ceasefire if Israel didn\u2019t back off in Lebanon.<\/p>\n


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