U.S. raises Israel espionage threat level

Israel appears to have intercepted communications involving U.S. negotiators engaged in talks with Iran, prompting the Pentagon to reportedly elevate Israel’s counterintelligence threat rating to its highest level. The development highlights growing friction between Washington and Israel as tensions mount over Israel’s military operations in Lebanon.

The New York Times reported Saturday, citing multiple current and former U.S. officials, that the Defense Intelligence Agency and other military intelligence agencies recently completed an assessment raising Israel’s counterintelligence threat level from "high" to "critical." The United States and Israel have long been aware that each conducts intelligence operations against the other and have generally tolerated the practice. U.S. officials now believe, however, that Israel’s efforts to gain access to Washington’s thinking and strategy during negotiations with Iran went too far.

According to the DIA assessment, Israel intensified surveillance targeting senior U.S. officials, including Steve Witkoff, the White House special envoy for the Middle East leading negotiations with Iran, and Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon’s undersecretary of defense for policy. The report was drafted shortly after authorities detected spyware secretly installed on mobile phones used by U.S. defense personnel stationed in Israel.

Current U.S. officials reportedly view Israel as posing a greater counterintelligence threat than any other American ally and, in some respects, a higher risk than certain adversaries. The assessment has raised questions about whether the Pentagon could limit the scope of intelligence sharing with Israel. One senior official told the Times that since the start of Donald Trump’s second administration, Israel’s intelligence-gathering efforts targeting senior U.S. officials had reached what the official described as an "unhinged" level. The Pentagon declined to comment.

The warning comes as disagreements between the two allies deepen over efforts to secure a ceasefire in Lebanon. Recent reports revealed that U.S. President Donald Trump used profanity while urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt attacks on Beirut, the Lebanese capital. Angered by Israel’s continued airstrikes in Lebanon, which it has defended as necessary to weaken the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah despite objections from Tehran, Trump reportedly said, “What the fuXX are you doing?” At the time, Iran also threatened to suspend negotiations with the United States over Israel’s military actions in Lebanon.


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