Several US 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 due to significantly expanded intelligence activities against the US. Officially, Washington has denounced the reports, and Israel has dismissed the allegations as "completely false."
However, the allegations are still causing a stir in Washington as Israel is considered one of the closest partners of the US. At the same time, these reports highlight a decades-old issue: mutual distrust regarding intelligence activities carried out by strategic allies. Ultimately, though, the real cause could be something entirely different.
Historic distrust
In Germany, the news brings to mind a remark made by then-Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2013 after it became known that the US National Security Agency (NSA) had been monitoring her cell phone: "Spying on friends is never acceptable," Merkel said at the time. 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.
