Multiple US media outlets report that an unidentified source at the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) has leaked internal information indicating that the Pentagon has raised Israel to the highest counter-intelligence threat category. This change was reportedly made due to greatly expanded intelligence activities against the United States. Officially, Washington has condemned the reports, and Israel has rejected the allegations as “completely false”.
However, the allegations are still causing a stir in Washington as Israel is considered one of America’s closest partners. At the same time, these reports highlight a decades-old issue: mutual distrust regarding intelligence activities conducted by strategic allies. Ultimately, however, the real reason may be something completely different.
historical distrust
In Germany, the news recalled a comment made by then-Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2013, when it was revealed that the US National Security Agency (NSA) was monitoring her cell phones: “Spying on friends is never acceptable,” Merkel said at the time. However, soon after, it became known that the German foreign intelligence service, the BND, had also been spying on Allied countries, governments, and institutions for decades.
German intelligence expert Erich Schmidt-Enbaum is convinced that the Allies also regularly spied on each other. In his view, this especially applies to America and Israel. He said, “There have been repeated Mossad operations in the United States as part of the fight against international terrorism that were not coordinated with the FBI. In contrast, Israel has always been an interesting target for the National Security Agency’s electronic surveillance, especially during all wars.”
Israeli espionage against the United States
Perhaps the most prominent case of Israeli espionage in the United States to date is that of Jonathan Pollard in 1987. Working as a U.S. Navy intelligence analyst, Pollard provided information to Israeli operators and, according to Israel’s time, Thousands of US dollars were received in return.
Following his confession, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in the US. However, prominent Israeli politicians repeatedly advocated for Pollard until he was released from prison in 2015 under certain conditions. When Pollard was allowed to visit Israel in 2020, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally welcomed him at the airport. “It was quite an insult to the Americans,” Schmidt-Einbaum told DW.
In 2004, it became known that Lawrence Franklin, a political analyst at the US Defense Department, had passed confidential information to Israel about US policy towards Iran through the influential pro-Israel lobbying organization AIPAC. Israel and AIPAC deny this, but Franklin was convicted of espionage nonetheless.
In the wake of the Snowden case in 2013, Israeli spying was not a major issue in the US. However, the British daily newspaper Guardian According to one of the documents leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden, a “NIE” is mentioned [National Intelligence Estimate] They were ranked as the third most aggressive intelligence service against the United States.”
American retaliation against allies
The Snowden leaks made headlines because they exposed the indiscriminate surveillance of millions of people by the NSA and other US intelligence agencies. The documents also revealed close cooperation between the NSA and Allied intelligence services, and that the US was also spying on its allies. Those affected included then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel as well as French presidents Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande.
In 2023, leaked Pentagon documents revealed that US intelligence agencies had monitored internal negotiations conducted by the South Korean government. Both sides denied this and jointly announced that the documents were largely forged, without specifying details about which meetings.
Why is the latest case so controversial?
It is largely undisputed that the latest controversy must be viewed against the backdrop of the joint US-Israeli war with Iran and strained relations between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu. While the US president is clearly trying to resolve the conflict as quickly as possible, Netanyahu, in Trump’s eyes, is doing too little to end the war.
According to various assessments, Israel has indeed crossed a red line by monitoring high-ranking government officials, including US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and several US Defense Department officials familiar with US negotiations with Iran.
If true, the reclassification could be seen as a crisis of trust between Washington and Israel. However, the question is why this information has become public now.
For Erich Schmidt-Einbaum, it is irrelevant whether the information is true or not. He believes it was issued in consultation with the US government. Trump is looking for ways to put diplomatic pressure on Israel.
“Looking at the midterms in November, he cannot risk angering the Israeli lobby in the US, for example by cutting military aid to Israel,” he said. Under the assumption that Israel is violating US interests with massive retaliation, it may be too easy. “Now the US president has an opportunity to pressure Israel to stop the bombing and withdraw troops from southern Lebanon,” the intelligence expert told DW.
This article was originally published in German.