Israel maintained a clandestine military rescue team in Iraq during recent operations against Iran, The Jerusalem Post reported Sunday, confirming details that regional media outlets and The Wall Street Journal have disclosed about a top-secret IDF presence in the country.

The Israeli rescue unit—composed of IDF special forces—was positioned to conduct emergency extractions of Israeli pilots who might be shot down during airstrikes, according to the Post. The contingency force never saw action, as no Israeli pilots were downed, though American pilots required rescue during the same operations.

The revelation underscores the scale of military coordination between Washington and Jerusalem during the conflict, which has largely played out beyond public view.

“It is truly historic and unprecedented,” a brigadier general commanding Israeli F-15 and F-16 squadrons told The Jerusalem Post in an April 6 interview now cleared by the Israeli censor. “Israel has never worked directly operationally with any other country’s air force. The US also has never worked with another country like this—military relations are truly intimate.”

The commander, identified only as Brig. Gen. “R” due to Israeli security restrictions, described conducting air-to-air refueling operations over Iraqi airspace with American forces. “I was personally on the way to attack Iran, and was refueling over Iraq with US forces talking to them in English and telling the whole story of my mission,” he said.

The disclosures mark a significant shift in what Israel has publicly acknowledged about its military footprint in Iraq, a country where it has no formal diplomatic presence and where Tehran wields considerable influence through militias and government channels.

Iraq’s government expressed fury over the Israeli presence once details became public, raising tensions in a nation where U.S. troops remain and where the delicate balance between American and Iranian interests complicates any foreign military operations.

Israeli security officials had previously kept the rescue team deployment tightly compartmentalized, allowing publication only after international media reporting made further secrecy impractical.

The IDF has a documented history of strikes against Iranian positions in Iraq stretching back years before the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. Israeli officials have said those operations targeted Iranian efforts to establish missile arsenals and forward operating positions within Iraqi territory—capabilities they contend pose a direct threat to Israeli civilians.

“Prior to the October 7 war, occasionally the Israeli censor allowed publication about limited Israeli attacks on Iranian forces who were trying to use Iraqi territory to position themselves to launch an arsenal of missiles against the Jewish state,” according to The Jerusalem Post account. Foreign media outlets have reported additional strikes that Israeli authorities did not publicly acknowledge.

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