US Military Personnel in Israel Found Secret Spyware on Their Phones as Congress Pushes US-Israeli Military Merger

US defence personnel stationed in Israel discovered that communications-intercepting software had been secretly installed on their mobile phones, prompting the Pentagon's intelligence arm to raise the espionage threat from a key ally to its highest-ever level.

The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) raised Israel's counterintelligence designation from 'high' to 'critical' in recent weeks and produced a seven-page classified brief with charts documenting the threat, current and former US officials said. The 'critical' designation is the most serious rating in the DIA's internal assessment system.

DIA Report Names Top US Officials as Alleged Targets

The assessment identified several senior American officials as alleged targets of Israeli surveillance. They include Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump's chief negotiator in talks with Iran, Elbridge A. Colby, the Pentagon's top policy official, and Michael P. DiMino IV, a senior defence official.

The DIA brief was drafted amid mounting alarm over systemic attempts to monitor Trump administration decision-making, though officials noted it is unclear whether one specific interception event triggered the upgrade. The document described Israel's ability to conduct both human espionage and technical collection at a 'critical level.'

The surveillance reportedly focused on officials shaping Washington's approach to Iran as the two adversaries negotiate an end to the wider conflict. One senior US official described the aggressiveness of Israeli intelligence collection during the second Trump administration as 'unhinged.'

Israeli Spying Surge Follows Long Pattern

Israeli espionage against the US surged from late 2024, first as the Biden administration pressed Israel to curb military operations in Gaza, then continuing into 2025 as the Trump administration weighed options for confronting Iran.

The DIA report documented additional incidents, outlining historical friction points and past Israeli efforts to compromise communications. This includes the 2019 incident where the US government concluded that Israel was most likely behind StingRay cellphone surveillance devices found near the White House during Trump's first term.

Israel's threat designation now surpasses every other American ally and exceeds some adversarial nations. The most well-known case of Israeli espionage against the US remains Jonathan Pollard, a Navy intelligence analyst who served 30 years in prison for passing classified documents to Israel. More recently, NSO Group, the Israeli firm behind Pegasus spyware, has faced global scrutiny after its tools were used against journalists, activists, and diplomats.

Congress Pushes Military Merger

The espionage revelations landed the same week the House Armed Services Committee advanced Section 224 of the Chairman's mark for the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The provision would deeply integrate US and Israeli military research, development, and data systems.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly endorsed the plan, writing to US lawmakers that 'the time has now arrived for us to move from aid recipient to partner.' Democratic Representative Ro Khanna opposed it, arguing that Netanyahu designed the framework so Congress would no longer need to vote on military aid.

Israel, White House Deny Claims

The Israeli Embassy in Washington called the espionage allegations 'completely false,' saying Israel 'does not gather intelligence on American entities, let alone US government officials.' A White House official dismissed the reports as 'false and sourced to someone who doesn't have any knowledge of what's going on.' The Pentagon declined to comment.

The disclosures come as Trump and Netanyahu have clashed publicly over Iran and Israel's continued operations in Lebanon, with Trump acknowledging he called Netanyahu 'crazy' during a tense phone call last week.