Is Israel spying on US? Espionage among allies nothing new
Key takeaways
- The Pentagon has reportedly raised the threat of Israeli espionage to its highest level.
- The change was reportedly made because Israel has significantly expanded intelligence activities against the United States.
- Shortly thereafter, however, it became known that the German foreign intelligence service, the BND, had also been spying on allied countries, governments and institutions for decades.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
The Pentagon has reportedly raised the threat of Israeli espionage to its highest level. Both governments officially deny this, but media reports come at a tense moment as the countries continue their conflict with Iran.
https://p.dw.com/p/5F4p1Tensions between US President Donald Trump (right) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) are growing over the war in Iran and the conflict in Lebanon Image: Jonathan Ernst/REUTERSAdvertisement Several media outlets report that an anonymous source from the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) leaked internal information indicating that the Pentagon has elevated Israel to the highest category of counterintelligence threat. The change was reportedly made because Israel has significantly expanded intelligence activities against the United States. The US government has denied the reports; Israel has called them "completely false."
The reports are causing a stir in Washington, where Israel remains one of the closest partners for the United States, highlighting a decades-old issue: mutual distrust regarding intelligence activities carried out by strategic allies.