Washington, DC [US], June 7 (ANI): The Pentagon has elevated concerns regarding Israeli espionage activities, warning that senior American officials could become targets of intensified surveillance amid widening strategic rifts between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the conflict with Iran.

According to a report by NBC News, two current US officials and one former official revealed that the Pentagon's Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) has recently raised Israel's counter-intelligence threat designation to 'critical', its highest internal assessment level.

A current official told the American broadcaster that the United States already implements stringent safety measures during official visits to Israel, pointing out that Israeli espionage apparatuses have long been perceived as highly assertive information gatherers.

However, a white house official has said that the entire news story is 'false' and sourced from someone who does not have proper knowledge of the events.

'The US already takes extra precautions when visiting Israel,' one current official told the American broadcaster, noting that Israeli intelligence agencies have long been viewed as particularly 'aggressive collectors' of information.

These defensive measures have reportedly involved the deployment of temporary computers, burner phones, and highly restricted communication protocols during prominent state visits.

Former diplomats, intelligence officials, and security experts noted that senior American officials frequently refrain from discussing confidential matters inside hotel rooms or other vulnerable spaces while present in Israel.

The intelligence adjustment reflects deepening anxiety within segments of the American defence establishment that Israel is actively attempting to intercept data regarding the Trump administration's internal deliberations on Middle Eastern conflicts.

The security review was distributed in recent weeks against a backdrop of escalating policy disagreements between Trump and Netanyahu concerning the trajectory of the war with Iran.

Officials familiar with the situation told NBC News that the DIA disseminated an internal notice accompanied by a seven-page assessment document outlining concerns about Israel's intelligence-gathering capabilities.

According to one of the officials, the report concluded that Israel's capacity for both human espionage and technical intelligence collection should be regarded as operating at a 'critical level'.

The internal document also lists several specific instances that fuelled the heightened concern, though officials stated they were not aware of any singular flashpoint that directly prompted the administrative decision.

The immediate consequences of this reclassification are expected to primarily impact American personnel travelling to Israel or engaging with Israeli counterparts.

Current and former officials observed that US representatives are likely to implement additional security safeguards, though routine intelligence-sharing between the two allied nations remains unaffected.

Emily Harding, vice president of the Defence and Security Department at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, characterised the Israeli intelligence framework as extraordinarily assertive.

'They are exceedingly interested in what we are up to,' NBC News quoted Harding as saying.

Meanwhile, Israel has firmly rejected the espionage accusations.

A spokesperson for the Israeli Embassy in Washington dismissed claims of spying on US officials as 'completely false'.

'Israel does not gather intelligence on American entities, let alone US government officials,' the spokesperson said, adding that Israeli intelligence operations are directed at adversaries rather than allies.

Concurrently, a White House official also dismissed the allegations, describing the news report as false and asserting that the source of the story is 'who doesn't have any knowledge of what's going on.'

Although intelligence collection among allied states is a frequent reality, current and former US officials noted that they interpreted the alleged Israeli surveillance as surpassing the standard boundaries of espionage generally tolerated between friendly partners.

The espionage concerns surface at an incredibly sensitive juncture in bilateral relations.

The friction between Trump and Netanyahu reportedly manifested during a tense telephonic exchange recently over the current situation in West Asia.

The US President subsequently acknowledged calling the Israeli leader 'crazy', intensifying speculation that the two traditional allies are diverging over their long-term strategic goals in the Middle East.

Earlier this week, US news outlet Axios reported that Trump held a highly friction-filled phone call with Netanyahu, during which the US leader reportedly expressed immense anger over Israeli threats to resume air strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs.

According to the report, Trump bluntly warned Netanyahu that these actions were severely harming Israel's international reputation.

'Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this,' Trump reportedly told Netanyahu during the call. (ANI)