The Pentagon is increasingly concerned about increased Israeli espionage against the United States, and has raised the counterintelligence threat level to the highest level.
Points of attention
- The Pentagon has raised the counterintelligence threat level to the highest level due to increased Israeli espionage against the United States.
- Israeli spies are monitoring senior US officials to gather information about the Trump administration's decisions on conflicts in the Middle East.
Israel spies on the US: what is known
According to American officials, in recent weeks the US Defense Intelligence Agency has published a new assessment of counterintelligence threats amid growing tensions between Israel and the US over further actions in the war with Iran.
Sources said the Intelligence Directorate posted an internal memo, seen by a current employee, in which the threat level for Israel was raised to "critical."
The decision was made in connection with descriptions in the Pentagon that Israel is making special efforts to spy on high-ranking American officials in order to obtain information about the Trump administration's internal discussions and decisions regarding conflicts in the Middle East.
The intelligence assessment, a seven-page document and a chart, says Israel's intelligence and technical intelligence-gathering capabilities are at a "critical level," according to one current official. It also lists a number of specific incidents that have raised U.S. concerns.
A representative of the Israeli embassy in Washington said that the claim that Israel is spying on the United States is "absolutely untrue."
Israel does not collect intelligence on American organizations, much less on U.S. government officials. Israel's intelligence-gathering efforts are directed against its enemies, not its allies. Any claims to the contrary are either unfounded or politically motivated.
The Pentagon declined to comment, and a White House spokesman said that the entire story was one and "coming from someone who knows nothing about what's going on."
