The Pentagon's intelligence arm has reportedly elevated Israel's counterintelligence threat rating to its highest level after U.S. defense personnel stationed in Israel allegedly discovered communications-monitoring software on their mobile devices, according to current and former American officials familiar with classified assessments.
The development comes at a sensitive moment in U.S.-Israel relations as the Trump administration pursues negotiations with Iran, Congress considers deeper military integration with Israel, and intelligence officials examine what they describe as increasingly aggressive surveillance activity directed at American policymakers.
According to officials cited in the reports, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) recently upgraded Israel's designation from "high" to "critical," the most severe category within the agency's internal counterintelligence framework. The assessment reportedly culminated in a seven-page classified briefing that examined both technical surveillance capabilities and human intelligence operations attributed to Israel.
The alleged surveillance activity is said to have focused on senior U.S. officials involved in shaping policy toward Iran. Among those identified in the assessment were Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump's chief negotiator in discussions involving Tehran; Elbridge A. Colby, the Pentagon's top policy official; and Michael P. DiMino IV, a senior defense official involved in strategic planning.
Officials familiar with the intelligence review said concerns extend beyond any single incident. Rather, the report allegedly reflects a broader pattern of intelligence collection efforts targeting American decision-making during a period of heightened diplomatic and military tension in the Middle East.
One senior U.S. official described the level of Israeli intelligence activity during the current administration as "unhinged," according to the reports.
The allegations arrive against the backdrop of a complicated intelligence relationship that has existed between Washington and Jerusalem for decades. Despite close military cooperation and strategic alignment, both countries have periodically accused each other of conducting intelligence operations that crossed diplomatic boundaries.
Among the historical examples cited by officials is the 2019 discovery of StingRay surveillance devices near the White House. U.S. investigators reportedly concluded at the time that Israel was the most likely source of the devices, although Israeli officials denied involvement.
The Jonathan Pollard espionage case continues to cast a long shadow over the relationship. Pollard, a former U.S. Navy intelligence analyst, served 30 years in prison after passing classified American information to Israel. More recently, the Israeli cyber-intelligence company NSO Group attracted international scrutiny over its Pegasus spyware platform, which was reportedly used against journalists, diplomats and political figures around the world.
The intelligence concerns surfaced just as lawmakers advanced legislation that could significantly deepen defense cooperation between the two allies. Section 224 of the House Armed Services Committee's Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act would expand collaboration involving military research, development programs and certain defense data-sharing frameworks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly endorsed the initiative, writing to lawmakers that "the time has now arrived for us to move from aid recipient to partner."
The proposal has generated debate on Capitol Hill. Representative Ro Khanna criticized the framework, arguing that it could reduce congressional oversight of future military assistance arrangements.
Israeli officials have categorically rejected the espionage allegations. The Israeli Embassy in Washington described the claims as "completely false," stating that Israel "does not gather intelligence on American entities, let alone US government officials."
The White House similarly pushed back against the reports. One administration official dismissed the allegations as "false and sourced to someone who doesn't have any knowledge of what's going on."
The Pentagon declined to comment on the reported DIA assessment.
