Overview
- The Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency circulated a seven‑page internal assessment that, officials said, raised Israel's counterintelligence rating to "critical" and described both human and technical collection at elevated levels.
- Two current U.S. officials and a former official provided the assessment to reporters while the Israeli embassy in Washington called the claims "completely false" and a White House official disputed the reporting.
- U.S. personnel have been told to take extra operational precautions when traveling to or meeting in Israel, including using burner phones and temporary computers and tightening communications practices.
- Officials said routine, high‑level intelligence sharing tied to the Iran war appears to continue for now, but the assessment could erode trust between agencies and complicate sensitive exchanges if sustained.
- The alert arrives against growing policy friction between President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu over the war with Iran and echoes past allied espionage disputes such as the Jonathan Pollard case, raising risks for long‑term alliance trust and posture.