Throughout the tense 48-hour window, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and US Central Command Commander Admiral Brad Cooper remained in direct contact.
New details have emerged regarding the unprecedented level of cooperation between the IDF and the United States military during a high-stakes rescue operation to retrieve American pilots after their F-15 crashed in Iranian territory last Friday.
The 48-hour mission, which a senior US official described as “the boldest and most courageous rescue operation in history,” relied also on Israeli intelligence and tactical support to ensure the pilots were extracted before they could be captured by Iranian forces.
According to sources who spoke with The Jerusalem Post, the IDF, acting in cooperation with US forces, launched a series of strikes against Iranian targets. These strikes were strategically designed to act as a diversion, drawing Iranian security forces away from the crash site and toward other areas.
In addition to the diversionary tactics, the IDF targeted specific Iranian assets with the intent to sabotage and disrupt Tehran’s race toward the pilots, blinding the Iranian military partially to the pilots’ location while the extraction team moved in.
Israeli and US officials told the Post that Israeli intelligence was also a component of the mission’s success.
“It was a US rescue mission; they did what many feared might not happen. Israel did what it could and what it was asked to do by the US military in order to help and save lives,” said an Israeli official.
The level of coordination reached the highest echelons of both militaries. Throughout the tense 48-hour window, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and US Central Command Commander Admiral Brad Cooper remained in direct contact.
How US fooled Iran to rescue downed F-15 airman
The Airman, who hasn't yet been publicly named, was one of two aircrew flying the F-15 when it was shot down. A US military team rescued the aircraft's pilot later that day, but the second airman was stranded for 36 hours in mountainous terrain before being rescued by US forces.
The CIA campaign involved spreading word inside Iran that US forces had already found him and were moving him overland for exfiltration, confusing Iranian forces and leadership in their own search for the missing airman.
Foreign reports have claimed that Israeli commandos also participated in the operation. However, an IDF source stated to the Post that these reports are completely false.
Netanyahu: US-Israeli cooperation 'unprecedented'
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with US President Donald Trump to congratulate him on the success of the US mission to rescue the US air force pilot who had been stranded in Iran, Netanyahu announced on X, early Monday morning.
Trump also expressed appreciation for Israel's help with the operation, Netanyahu wrote.
"I am deeply proud that our cooperation on and off the battlefield is unprecedented, and that Israel could contribute to saving a brave American warrior," the post read.
Shoshana Baker, Miriam Sela-Eitam, and Danya Saperstein contributed to this report.