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JERUSALEM — Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Tuesday amid a major security breach involving the publication of Jerusalem’s plans to launch a counterstrike against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The documents first appeared online Friday via a channel on Telegram, claiming they had been leaked by someone in the U.S. intelligence community, then later the U.S. Department of Defense. The information appeared entirely gathered through the use of satellite image analysis.
Blinken seeks to establish a cease-fire in Gaza and an end to the war against the U.S.-designated terrorist movement Hezbollah in Lebanon. His visit comes days after the Iranian-backed Hezbollah organization launched a drone strike to assassinate Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his private residence in Caesarea.
ISRAEL’S UN AMBASSADOR: RESPONSE TO IRAN WILL BE ‘VERY PAINFUL'
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken disembarks an aircraft as he arrives in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (Nathan Howard/Pool via AP)
Hezbollah joined Hamas a day after the Gaza-based terrorist organization invaded Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Iran’s regime—the world’s worst state-sponsor of terrorism, according to the U.S. State Department—sponsors both Hamas and Hezbollah. Tehran launched a massive missile barrage on Oct. 1 into the Jewish state.
"There is a reason why Israel avoided informing the U.S. in advance about the elimination of Nasrallah and the pagers operation…"
The leak of Israel’s plan against Iran has sparked national security alarm bells among leading Israeli and American analysts.
Amit Segal, chief political analyst of Israel's Channel 12, told Fox News Digital, "There is a reason why Israel avoided informing the U.S. in advance about the elimination of Nasrallah and the pagers operation. This reason is the systematic prior leaking of Israeli operations over the past year. There is real concern in Israel about the implications of its secrets being publicly revealed in a way that serves its enemies."
In September, Israel launched a targeted strike killing Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut.
IDF VIDEO: ISRAELI TANK FIRES AT BUILDING WHERE HAMAS LEADER YAHYA SINWAR WAS BARRICADED BEFORE BEING KILLED
People gather near the site of the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut's southern suburbs on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Richard Goldberg, a former National Security Council official during the Trump administration, told Fox News Digital, "The leak itself and the potential for more leaks yet to come is a national security crisis for the United States. We don’t yet have confirmation of who leaked this and why, but the event needs to force a systemic review of who has access to intelligence and how we protect against political and ideological radicalization among those with access to top secret information."
Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, added, "Clearly there is a top-down policy in place to constrain, cajole and sometimes threaten Israel via a range of tactics, but we need to be clear-eyed that pro-Hamas and pro-Iran propaganda amplified by President Biden, Vice President Harris and certain white nationalist influencers can have consequences in radicalizing elements of our society against Israel and Jews."
Many rockets fired from Iran are seen over Jerusalem from Hebron, West Bank, on Oct. 1, 2024. The Israeli army announced that missiles were fired from Iran toward Israel, and sirens were heard across the country, especially in Tel Aviv. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Anadolu via Getty Images)
White House National Security Council communications adviser John Kirby said on Monday that President Biden was "deeply concerned" by the alleged possible leak of U.S. intelligence material regarding Israel’s war planning against the clerical regime in Tehran.
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The leaked U.S. intelligence documents will likely be a topic on Netanyahu's agenda with Blinken as he makes his 11th trip to the Middle East since Hamas slaughtered nearly 1,200 people on Oct. 7, including more than 40 Americans.
Fox News' Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.