Pentagon reportedly raised the Israeli espionage threat to the highest level, according to NBC. Trump's Iran negotiator was said to be among the targets

In recent weeks, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) raised its counterintelligence threat level from Israel to "critical" — the highest level in the Pentagon's internal system. This was reported by NBC News, citing two current and one former U.S. official. NBC News ↗ According to The New York Times, those under surveillance were said to include Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, who leads negotiations with Iran, Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby, and Michael DiMino, a senior Pentagon official for the Middle East. Al Jazeera ↗ The warning comes at a sensitive moment: President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu disagree on how to proceed with the war against Iran. Israel firmly denies any spying on its ally.

What the "critical" level means

According to NBC, the DIA circulated an internal notice reclassifying Israel from "high" to "critical" — the most severe designation in its assessment system. The seven-page document is said to include a chart and states that Israel's capacity to conduct intelligence operations, both through human sources and technical means, is "at a critical level." According to sources, the assessment lists a series of specific incidents — though NBC's report does not make clear whether the decision was triggered by any one particular case. NBC News ↗

Who Israel allegedly surveilled, and how

Besides the three named officials, U.S. officials told the NYT that personnel stationed in Israel found software on their phones designed to intercept communications. The document reportedly also pointed to two physical attempts: in 2021, Israeli military intelligence allegedly tried to place a listening device directly inside DIA headquarters, and last year Shin Bet agents allegedly attempted to install a similar device in a U.S. Secret Service vehicle. All these claims come from anonymous sources, and Israel rejects them. Al Jazeera ↗

The Iran rift as backdrop

The United States and Israel launched the war against Iran at the end of February. Since the ceasefire in early April, Trump has been pursuing a diplomatic deal with Iran that would end the war; Netanyahu is skeptical of it and is pushing to resume airstrikes. At the same time, according to Western officials, Trump is asking the Israeli prime minister to ease attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon, where the fighting has claimed nearly 3,500 lives. In a June 3 interview, Trump confirmed that during a recent phone call he had called Netanyahu "crazy." According to U.S. sources, whether Trump decides to resume large-scale combat operations or end the war is precisely the information Israel is most eager to obtain. NBC News ↗

Nothing new — from Pollard to Merkel's phone

Spying between allies is not unusual, but according to U.S. officials, Israeli activity "significantly exceeds" the normal level. Israeli intelligence has a reputation among U.S. officials and experts as an exceptionally aggressive service — Emily Harding of Washington's CSIS calls it a "hyper-aggressive intelligence service." U.S. officials traveling to Israel routinely use burner phones and exercise caution in their hotel rooms. The best-known case remains Jonathan Pollard, a U.S. Navy intelligence analyst who served nearly 30 years in prison for selling classified documents to Israel. La Repubblica ↗ But the reverse is also true: Edward Snowden's 2013 leaks revealed that U.S. intelligence had tapped the mobile phone of then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

What is confirmed and what is not

The entire story rests on anonymous intelligence leaks. The Israeli embassy in Washington called the claims "completely false" — "Israel does not collect intelligence on American entities, let alone government officials." A White House official told NBC that "the entire story is false." The Pentagon declined to comment. The leak itself can also be read in the context of the Trump-Netanyahu dispute: publishing a critical assessment may serve as a tool of pressure on Israel, not merely a neutral warning. NBC News ↗

What hotinfo is watching

• Whether further details from the DIA's seven-page document emerge, or whether it receives official confirmation.
• Whether the affair affects the day-to-day intelligence sharing between the two countries (so far, according to sources, it has not).
• Trump versus Netanyahu: will Israel resume bombing Iran, or will Trump's diplomatic track prevail?
• Congress's reaction, where pressure for closer military-intelligence cooperation with Israel is building in parallel.