Recently, news emerged that the United States is investigating a leak of classified documents that assessed Israel’s retaliatory plan against Iranian missile attacks. The motive behind the leak appears to be to disrupt Israel’s retaliatory actions.
According to reports from the Associated Press citing four anonymous U.S. officials, these documents originated from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) under the Department of Defense and the National Security Agency (NSA), indicating that Israel is continuing to mobilize military assets in preparation for a military response to Iran’s intense ballistic missile strike on October 1.
One official confirmed the authenticity of these documents. The documents, marked as top-secret, were disseminated on a Telegram channel and subsequently reported by U.S. news websites Axios and CNN.
CNN reported that these two documents dated October 15 and 16 began circulating online after being released on Friday, October 18, by a Telegram account named “Middle East Spectator.”
The documents were labeled as “top secret” and noted that they could only be shared internally among the U.S. and its Five Eyes Alliance partners – Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
One document also asserted that the U.S. has not found any indications that Israel plans to use nuclear weapons against Iran, as Israel has consistently refused to publicly acknowledge possessing nuclear weapons.
Mick Mulroy, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East and a retired CIA official, told CNN that if the leak is confirmed, it would constitute “a serious breach of protocol.”
He added, “Trust is a key component of the relationship between the U.S. and Israel, and leaking secrets could undermine that trust.”
An official informed the AP that the investigation also involves determining how the documents were acquired, whether they were intentionally leaked by U.S. intelligence personnel or obtained through hacking, and if any other intelligence information was compromised.
The official stated that as part of the investigation, efforts are underway to identify who had access to these documents before their release.
The leak incident comes at a sensitive time in U.S.-Israel relations. The United States is leveraging Israel’s targeting of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to push for a ceasefire in Gaza, while also urgently warning Israel against further expanding its military operations in northern Lebanon to avoid sparking a wider regional conflict.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed determination to continue military actions and reiterated the need for Iran to pay a price for its missile strikes on Israel on October 1.
The Pentagon issued a statement acknowledging awareness of the reports concerning these documents but declined to provide further comments.