Washington (Somalia Today) — US intelligence reports have raised concern that Israeli spy agencies tried to eavesdrop on senior American officials involved in efforts to secure a peace deal with Iran, The New York Times reported.
The reports come as the Pentagon has raised Israel’s counter-intelligence threat level from “high” to “critical”, the highest category, according to the newspaper.
The assessment points to growing unease inside the US defence establishment that Israel, one of Washington’s closest military allies, has intensified efforts to learn the Trump administration’s private thinking on Iran diplomacy.
The New York Times said recent intelligence reports raised concerns that Israeli agencies targeted senior officials including Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s top negotiator, Elbridge A. Colby, the Pentagon’s senior policy official, and Michael P. DiMino IV, one of Colby’s main deputies.
One senior US official described Israeli intelligence collection against top American officials during the second Trump administration as “unhinged”, the newspaper reported.
The Defence Department declined to comment. A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Times the account was false.
A spokesperson for the Israeli embassy in Washington also denied that Israel poses a counter-intelligence threat, saying Israel does not spy on American officials or entities.
Iran talks under strain
The warning comes at one of the most sensitive moments in US-Israel relations in years.
Washington and Israel have worked closely during the war against Iran, with Israeli military officers operating alongside American counterparts at US Central Command.
The US military has shared large amounts of tactical and operational information with Israel, according to the Times.
But US officials cited by the newspaper said Israel also sought insight into Trump’s strategy and shifting positions in talks with Tehran.
The gap between the two allies has grown sharper as Washington pushes for a peace deal while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeks to further degrade Iran’s military capabilities, weaken or topple its clerical leadership and intensify pressure on Tehran’s regional allies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The Trump administration has focused on using military pressure to force Iranian concessions at the bargaining table. Israel, by contrast, has pushed for a broader campaign that could reshape the regional balance of power.
Witkoff remains central to Trump’s Iran diplomacy. His role has made him a natural target for foreign intelligence services seeking to understand where Washington may compromise and where it may draw red lines.
Phones, listening devices
The Defence Intelligence Agency report followed incidents in which American defence personnel in Israel found that software used to tap communications had been secretly installed on their phones, the Times said.
The report said counter-intelligence incidents began rising in late 2024, as the Biden administration pressed Israel to curb attacks in Gaza, and continued into 2025 as the Trump administration weighed options for striking Iran.
The document also described several earlier episodes, according to the Times.
In 2021, Israeli military intelligence officers were caught planting listening devices at DIA headquarters. Last year, officers from Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, tried to plant a listening device in a Secret Service vehicle, the report said.
The DIA report did not explicitly discuss the Iran peace negotiations. But other recent intelligence reports raised concerns that Israeli agencies had listened in on Witkoff and other senior negotiators as they pursued a long-term agreement between Washington and Tehran.
Current and former officials told the newspaper that some senior Trump administration figures made themselves vulnerable by conducting national security business on personal phones, travelling on private aircraft and avoiding staffing support from US embassies abroad.
Those habits, one former senior US official said, left them exposed not only to adversaries but also to allied intelligence services.
A close ally, a long concern
The United States and Israel have one of Washington’s closest security relationships.
Israel was moved into US Central Command’s area of responsibility in 2021, a shift designed to deepen military coordination with regional partners against shared threats, especially Iran.
Washington also committed $38 billion in military assistance to Israel under a 10-year agreement covering fiscal years 2019 to 2028.
But espionage allegations have repeatedly strained the relationship.
Jonathan Pollard, a former US Navy intelligence analyst, received a life sentence in 1987 after passing classified material to Israel. He was paroled in 2015 after three decades in prison.
In 2019, Netanyahu rejected a report that Israel had planted cellphone surveillance devices near the White House and other sensitive locations in Washington. He called the accusation “a complete fabrication” and said he had forbidden spying against the United States.
The latest assessment could complicate deeper military integration between the two allies, especially if the Pentagon limits the information it shares with Israeli officers.
At the US-led Civil-Military Coordination Centre in Kiryat Gat, Israel, American and Israeli personnel work side by side on Gaza ceasefire enforcement and humanitarian efforts. But the Times said the building also has US-only and Israeli-only floors where each side can discuss its most sensitive matters.
For Washington, the issue is not whether allies spy on allies. US officials told the newspaper both countries have long understood that reality.
The concern, they said, is that Israel may have crossed a line at the very moment the two allies are sharing more military information than ever.
