Israel’s defense minister is intervening with an American court to protect the identity of an Israeli military intelligence officer expected to testify at an upcoming trial of five men alleged to have run a Texas-based Islamic charity, the Holy Land Foundation, as a front for Hamas.

In a signed statement filed in federal court in Dallas last week, Ehud Barak, a former prime minister of Israel, said disclosing the identity of the officer could pose a threat to his nation. “The disclosure of these details may harm the security of the state,” Mr. Barak wrote.

In May, Judge A. Joe Fish ruled that a member of the Israeli Security Agency, or Shin Bet, could use a pseudonym and employ certain other measures to keep his identity secret when testifying for the prosecution. The judge granted prosecutors’ requests to close the courtroom and instead provide a video and audio feed where the Shin Bet official could not be seen.

However, Judge Fish said those measures could not be used for the Israel Defense Force officer’s testimony because his identity did not appear to be classified under American law. “That information is in fact classified,” prosecutors said in a brief asking the judge to reconsider. Portions of the government’s brief were also withheld from the public on the grounds that they are classified. The trial for the five officials, Ghassan Elashi, Mufid Abdulqader, Shukri Abu Bakr, Mohammad El-Mezain, and Abdulraham Odeh, is set to get under way on Monday. The men are charged with providing material support to Hamas, violating financial sanctions against the terrorist group, money laundering, and tax evasion. All of the defendants have pleaded not guilty.

Defense lawyers have not responded to the prosecution’s latest motion, but they opposed most of the precautions sought earlier in the case. The defense, and other critics, have accused the American government of giving Israel too much control over the prosecution. Judge Fish rejected a prosecution request to restrict cross-examination of the Israeli witnesses and said he would rule on the permissibility of defense questions as they are posed. Both Israelis are expected to testify about seized documents that prosecutors believe show the Holy Land Foundation’s contributions went to Hamas affiliates in Gaza and the West Bank.

In federal court in Chicago last year, a Shin Bet interrogator was permitted to use a pseudonym and a disguise when testifying in a similar criminal case involving aid to Hamas.