The White House has dismissed a report alleging that Israel has stepped up intelligence collection targeting U.S. officials, calling the claims “false” and based on unreliable sourcing, according to a statement cited by NBC News on Friday, June 5.
“This entire story is false and sourced to someone who doesn’t have any knowledge of what’s going on,” a White House official said, responding to reporting that the Pentagon had raised concerns about Israeli counterintelligence activity directed at American officials.
The comment came after questions emerged over an alleged internal U.S. intelligence assessment that placed Israel at a heightened espionage concern level.
The report, which cited current and former U.S. officials, claimed the Defense Intelligence Agency had recently increased Israel’s counterintelligence threat level to “critical.”
According to those officials, the assessment showed concerns that Israeli intelligence services were increasing surveillance efforts involving U.S. government officials and internal decision-making related to the war in the Middle East.
Israel and U.S. Deny Claims of Espionage Activity
The White House rejected those claims, but officials did not address specific details of the alleged assessment.
The Israeli Embassy in Washington also denied the allegations. In a statement, it said Israel does not spy on the United States or collect intelligence on American officials.
“Israel does not gather intelligence on American entities, let alone U.S. government officials,” the embassy said.
“Israeli intelligence collection efforts are aimed at its enemies, not its allies. Any claims to the contrary are either misinformed or politically motivated.”
The NBC News report said the alleged internal assessment raised concerns about human intelligence and technical surveillance capabilities and cited specific incidents that contributed to the higher classification.
However, the officials cited in the report did not say what triggered the change or whether a single event was responsible.
Tensions Persist Amid Middle East Security Concerns
The claims come at a sensitive time in U.S.-Israel relations, with tensions rising over the war in Iran and disagreements over military strategy in the region.
President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have reportedly clashed over the direction of operations, particularly regarding Iran and Hezbollah activity in Lebanon.
According to officials quoted in the report, U.S. and Israeli priorities have begun to diverge more sharply in recent months.
While the United States has pushed toward diplomatic efforts to stabilize the conflict with Iran, Israel prefers a harder line, including calls for renewed military pressure.
Despite the reported tensions, intelligence cooperation between the two countries remains extensive.
U.S. officials said intelligence sharing happens daily, especially on counterterrorism and regional security threats posed by Iran and its allied forces.
Officials also noted that it is standard practice for countries to conduct intelligence gathering on both adversaries and allies.
However, they said concerns occasionally arise when activities are seen as exceeding expected norms between partner nations.
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Former officials quoted in the report said Israel has long maintained an aggressive intelligence posture globally, including operations that sometimes overlap with U.S. interests.
They pointed to past incidents that strained relations, including the 1980s case involving U.S. Navy analyst Jonathan Pollard, who was convicted of spying for Israel.
Experts also noted that the United States itself conducts intelligence operations on allies, including European partners, a practice revealed in previous leaks.
They noted that intelligence relations between Washington and Tel Aviv are deeply institutional and not easily disrupted by a single dispute.
As of Saturday, June 6, no U.S. agency has publicly confirmed the existence of the reported Defense Intelligence Agency assessment or its findings.
