The Pentagon has raised the counterintelligence threat level regarding Israel to the highest level, several US publications and France Presse say.
The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) concluded that Israel's “capability to conduct human espionage and technical collection operations is at a 'critical level,'” according to NBC News, which spoke to several US officials.
The decision comes amid concerns that Israel may have attempted to spy on senior US officials to gain information about the Trump administration's “domestic deliberations and decision-making process regarding conflicts in the Middle East,” the US television station said.
For its part, the New York Times has written about Israeli attempts to wiretap senior officials, particularly President Donald Trump's chief negotiator, Steve Witkoff, and senior Pentagon policy official Elbridge Colby.
The United States and Israel launched joint attacks against Iran on February 28, triggering the war. Since then, the relationship between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears strained.
Trump had a harsh, profanity-laced exchange during a phone call with Netanyahu, in which the US president allegedly told the Israeli prime minister he was “crazy” and would have gone to jail without him.
The two men discussed Israel's threats to bomb the Lebanese capital, Beirut, which Donald Trump fears could undermine US negotiations with Tehran.
In an interview with The New York Post, Donald Trump confirmed on Wednesday that he had a heated discussion with Benjamin Netanyahu, stating that he is unhappy with Israel's policy in Lebanon.
