Fears of Israeli surveillance of US officials

The US Defense Headquarters has raised the counter-intelligence threat level against the country to the highest level due to fears of increasing and aggressive espionage by Israel targeting US officials.

This sensational information was reported on Friday (June 5) in a report by the US media NBC News.

The report, citing two current and one former US officials, said that the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) issued this new assessment in recent weeks.

Through this, the Israeli threat indicator has been set as 'critical' or the highest risk. US officials said that Israel is conducting special activities to know the internal discussions and decisions of the Trump administration on the Middle East conflict in advance. The Pentagon has taken this step mainly based on Israeli efforts to strengthen surveillance of senior US officials.

The new DIA assessment, which includes a seven-page classified document, details specific incidents that have raised U.S. concerns, the officials said. The high alert comes amid a recent spat between U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the Iran war and Israel's military campaign in Lebanon.

The two leaders reportedly held a heated phone call last week. According to U.S. officials, Israel is eager to get specifics on whether the Trump administration will resume major military action against Iran or seek a negotiated end to the war.

However, the Israeli embassy in Washington dismissed the report as "completely baseless." In a statement, it said Israel is not conducting any intelligence surveillance on U.S. government officials and that the claim is "completely false." The Pentagon declined to comment officially on the matter, and a White House official also called the report "untrue."

However, defense and security experts see it differently. Emily Harding, vice president of defense and security at the Washington-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, called Israel's intelligence services "overly aggressive." She commented that the Israelis are always very interested and proactive in knowing what the United States is actually doing.

Source: Anadolu Agency.