How Israel helped the US rescue the crew of a downed F-15 from Iran with the help of the IDF Special Forces, intelligence, and more.

The US military was able to rescue the second crew member of the downed jet on Sunday, almost 48 hours after Iran shot down an American F-15E Strike Eagle over its territory. This was only possible after a lot of careful planning, which included a "deception campaign" by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Now, new information has come to light about the "daring" rescue mission. Reports say that even Israel helped the US military with its mission.

A report says that

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) worked with the US military to carry out a series of strikes on Iranian targets. The Israeli news outlet said, citing sources, that the strikes were meant to be a "distraction" to keep the Iranians away from the crash site and other places.

The report said that the IDF's main goal was to "sabotage and disrupt" Iran's attempt to reach the downed crew member. An official told the outlet that Israeli intelligence was very important to the operation's success.

"It was a US rescue mission, and they did what many people thought might not happen. "Israel did what it could and what the US military asked it to do to help and save lives."

cited an Israeli military official as saying.

According to reports from Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), the Israeli special forces were involved in the rescue. The reports said that Sayeret Matkal and Shaldag were part of the mission to help US forces deal with Iranian threats in the area.

The IDF's general-purpose commando unit is called Sayeret Matkal. It is trained to carry out deep-penetration and hostage-rescue missions. On the other hand, the Shaldag is an Israeli Air Force (IAF) unit that is known for secret missions, reconnaissance, and combat search-and-rescue missions behind enemy lines.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, said that President Donald Trump thanked him for Tel Aviv's help with the rescue operation. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), he said he also talked to Trump and praised him for his "bold decision" to "perfectly execute" the mission to save the pilot who had crashed.

Netanyahu said, "I am very proud that our cooperation on and off the battlefield is unprecedented and that Israel could help save a brave American warrior."

Thinking back on the event, it happened on Friday. The US military was able to save the pilot hours after the crash, but the weapons system officer (WSO) was still missing. He stayed away from the Iranians for almost 48 hours before the US military got him out on Sunday. President Trump said that the WSO is a colonel-level officer who is hurt but will get better soon.