WASHINGTON – Recent US intelligence reports have raised concerns about Israeli spy agencies eavesdropping on US negotiators working on a peace deal with Iran, amid rising concern over a more general counterintelligence threat by Israel.
Israel and the United States have long known, and tolerated, that each was spying on the other. But an intensified Israeli effort to learn about US positions in talks with Iran has crossed a line, according to some US officials.
The reports include concerns that Israel has stepped up its efforts to eavesdrop on senior US officials, including Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s top negotiator; Elbridge A. Colby, the Pentagon’s top policy official; and one of his main deputies, Michael P. DiMino IV.
Another report, written by the Defense Intelligence Agency and other military intelligence offices and focused on earlier events going back several years, said the counterintelligence threat level posed by Israel had been increased in recent weeks to the top level, from high to critical. The report outlines various efforts by Israel to spy on US military personnel and government officials.
The reports and the intensified concern about Israeli spying come at an especially sensitive time. Israel and the US have been fighting the war against Iran together and have never had such close military coordination as they do now, with Israeli military officers working side by side with their American counterparts at US Central Command.
The US military is sharing huge amounts of tactical and operational information with its Israeli counterparts. But senior US officials said Israel is looking for insights into Trump’s strategy and shifting stances on the peace talks.
The new warning could potentially complicate efforts to further integrate military war planning between US Central Command and Israel, especially if the Pentagon makes a decision to place new restrictions on information shared with Israeli officers.
There has already been tension between the two nations as Trump pursues a peace deal even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel seeks to further degrade Iran’s capabilities, weaken or topple its theocratic government and assault Tehran’s proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah.
The Defense Department declined to comment. A White House official, speaking on the condition their name not be used, said the account was false.
A spokesperson for the Israeli Embassy in Washington also disputed claims that Israel poses a counterintelligence threat, saying Israel does not spy on US officials or entities. NYTIMES
