On June 6, 2026, the New York Times and NBC News published reports alleging that U.S. officials are concerned about a counterintelligence threat from Israel, which they claimed is aggressively spying on American officials. The reports further alleged that the Pentagon has elevated its counterintelligence threat assessment of Israel to the highest level.

The stories were quickly amplified by known Israel critics, including former counterterrorism official Joe Kent, who argued that “Israel survives on our defense funding & diplomatic top cover” and that Israel would “keep playing us as fools” until the U.S. withdraws its support.

Notably, neither outlet actually reviewed the documents they cited — both relied exclusively on unnamed officials. The leaked document in question reportedly contains no forensic evidence or concrete findings of a breach, only alleged “concerns.”

Both news organizations were ultimately forced to acknowledge that the White House flatly rejected the reporting, calling “the entire story false.” The Israeli government similarly dismissed it as “completely false.” Yet those who amplified the story — Kent among them — shared screenshots that conspicuously omitted the White House denial.

Kent’s central claim also does not hold up to scrutiny. He suggested that Israel’s alleged spying is somehow linked to U.S. funding, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has himself called for ending the $3.8 billion in annual foreign military assistance Israel receives from the United States — aid that is almost entirely spent on American defense systems.

Some foreign policy experts believe the story was deliberately leaked by anti-Israel officials within the U.S. government to derail Section 224 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2027. That provision would deepen military cooperation between the U.S. and Israel — a relationship from which the U.S. already derives significant benefits in intelligence, combat experience, and defense technology.

Opponents of Section 224, such as Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), have vowed to block it in the House. The timing of the leak, many observers note, gives them precisely the political ammunition they need to do so.

Bottom Line

Two of America’s most prominent news organizations ran a story with no documents, no evidence, and no named sources, only to have it demolished the same day by the White House and the Israeli government alike. And yet they ran it anyway.

The people who spread it knew exactly what they were doing. They cropped out the denials. They inflated the outrage. They used a fabricated scandal to advance a legislative agenda that couldn’t survive on its honest merits.

The real story here is that American officials may be leaking disinformation to a compliant press corps in order to sabotage a defense partnership that benefits the United States. That is the counterintelligence threat worth investigating — not in Jerusalem, but in Washington.

Sources

New York Times, NBC News, Joe Kent, Israel Truth Network, House Armed Services Committee, Daily Wire , Ynet News