Pentagon Elevates Israeli Espionage Threat Assessment to Highest 'Critical' Level

May 28, 2024

The Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency has elevated the counterintelligence threat from Israel to "critical," its highest level, amid concerns of increased Israeli spying on U.S. officials. The move reflects growing tensions between the Trump and Netanyahu administrations over policy on Iran and Lebanon. Israel is allegedly targeting officials involved in peace talks, though both the White House and Israel vehemently deny the reports.

Pentagon counterintelligence threat elevation

▪Israel's counterintelligence threat level is now considered higher than any other U.S. ally and some adversarial countries.
▪The White House and the Israeli Embassy in Washington have denied the reports, calling them "completely false."
▪The new designation stems from concerns that Israel is spying on top U.S. officials to learn about internal deliberations on Middle East conflicts.
▪The Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) recently raised the counterintelligence threat level for Israel from "high" to "critical," its highest designation.
▪The DIA's assessment reportedly includes a seven-page document and a chart detailing specific incidents that raised U.S. concern.

Israeli eavesdropping on U.S.-Iran negotiations

▪U.S. intelligence reports raised concerns about Israeli spy agencies eavesdropping on American negotiators working on a peace deal with Iran.
▪The threat level was reportedly raised after U.S. personnel in Israel found that software to tap their communications had been surreptitiously installed on their phones.
▪A senior U.S. official described the aggressiveness of Israeli intelligence collection on top U.S. officials during the Trump administration as "unhinged."
▪Alleged targets of Israeli eavesdropping include U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge A. Colby, and his deputy Michael P. DiMino IV.

U.S.-Israel military coordination tensions

▪Despite the espionage concerns, high-level intelligence sharing between the U.S. and Israel is not expected to be impacted.
▪The threat reassessment comes amid friction between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the war with Iran and Israel's campaign in Lebanon.
▪President Trump is pursuing a diplomatic deal with Iran to end the war, while Prime Minister Netanyahu has pushed for renewed bombing raids.

Historical Israeli espionage incidents

▪In 2025, officers from Israel's Shin Bet agency were reportedly discovered trying to plant a listening device in a Secret Service vehicle.
▪In 2021, Israeli military intelligence officers were allegedly caught planting listening devices at DIA headquarters.
▪Israel has a long-standing commitment not to engage in intelligence operations in the U.S. following the Jonathan Pollard scandal.
▪Jonathan Pollard, a former U.S. Navy analyst, was arrested in 1985 and served 30 years in prison for spying for Israel.

Trump administration security vulnerabilities

▪Some senior Trump administration officials rejected staffing from U.S. embassies abroad, increasing their vulnerability to espionage.
▪The use of personal cellphones and private aircraft by senior Trump administration officials made them vulnerable targets for spy services.