The Pentagon's intelligence arm has raised its assessed threat level on Israeli spying from "high" to "critical" in recent weeks, according to reporting from NBC News and The New York Times. The change came amid concerns over increasingly aggressive Israeli surveillance tactics tied to the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
According to Al Jazeera, the Defense Intelligence Agency elevated the alert level because of fears that Israel is attempting to surveil top U.S. officials in order to understand internal White House deliberations about ending the war. NBC News first reported the change on Friday, with The New York Times publishing its own account the following day. Both outlets cited anonymous U.S. officials.
An unnamed Pentagon spokesperson told both news organizations that the reports were "false." The U.S. Department of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Al Jazeera.
The reported surveillance concerns center on a public divide between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the direction of the conflict. The U.S. and Israel launched the war against Iran on February 28. Trump has repeatedly said he wants to bring the war to a close amid mounting political pressure at home. Netanyahu has called for the war to resume despite an April 8 ceasefire that has largely paused the fighting, though efforts to reach a lasting agreement have repeatedly stalled.
The New York Times reported that the DIA cited an uptick in Israeli spying activity beginning in late 2024, when the Biden administration increased pressure on Israel over its conduct in Gaza. That increase continued into 2025 as Trump returned to the presidency and began deliberating about how to approach Iran.
Recent intelligence assessments have also documented evidence of Israeli efforts to monitor Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and Elbridge Colby, a top policy official at the Pentagon, along with his deputy Michael DiMino IV. Witkoff had served as the lead negotiator in nuclear talks that preceded the initial U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran in February.
Israel has long been known to conduct intelligence gathering on the United States. The latest reported escalation raises new questions about the close intelligence and military coordination between the two countries. Washington has for years provided billions of dollars in military aid and weapons sales to Israel. The U.S. Congress is currently debating related legislation as well.
