Trump threatened jail for ‘leaker’ of US airmen rescue info. Israeli journalist says he reported it first and won't reveal source
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Trump threatened jail for ‘leaker’ of US airmen rescue info. Israeli journalist says he reported it first and won't reveal source")
Donald Trump and an F15 fighter jet are shown in this combo image Photograph: (Others)
After Trump threatened jail over a leak about two missing US airmen in Iran, Israeli journalist Amit Segal said he first reported it. He refused to reveal his source, which helped in his detailed real-time reporting on the US special forces operation to rescue the F-15 airmen
Soon after US President Donald Trump threatened jail for those behind the 'leak' of information that two US airmen went missing in Iran, a journalist from Israel self-identified as the person who reported it first. It is interesting to note that Amit Segal, the reporter from the US-allied country, had cited ‘Western’ officials, in what Trump considered to be a leak that compromised US forces and national security. The loss of the F-15 fighter jet and the US special forces mission to rescue the pilot were some of the most tense moments from the Iran–US war in recent days. Who is Amit Segal, who also refused to reveal his source?
Amit Segal self-identifies as the journalist who reported the downing of the F-15
Amit Segal identified himself as the first person who reported on the situation with the airmen after the downing of F-15 fighter jet by Iran. His reportage also included information that a second pilot had gone missing in Iran.
Segal had shared on both Telegram and X the news of the search for “two American crew members”, and details such as the rescue of one pilot, and that the second was still missing.
He continued to post real-time updates on the US rescue operation as it was still underway, often citing a “Western source”.
After Trump's threat against the 'leaker', Segal posted on his Telegram channel: “As you may recall, this was first published here,” while openly identifying himself as the journalist who broke the story.
Segal later told the New York Post he wasn’t 100 per cent sure if he was the first to report on the operation, but vowed to protect his sources and not reveal who tipped him off.
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Who is Amit Segal, the journalist who 'leaked' information on US airmen who ejected over Iran?
Amit Segal is a journalist with Israel's Channel 12. Born on April 10, 1982, in Haifa, Segal was raised in the Israeli settlement of Ofra in the West Bank. He is the son of Hagai Segal, an Israeli journalist and former member of the Jewish Underground, a militant group active in the 1980s. His family has Ashkenazi Jewish roots.
How the US aircraft went down and the desperate search and rescue mission
The F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down over southern Iran on April 3. The pilot and the weapons systems officer ejected. The pilot was rescued quickly by US forces, but the weapons systems officer went missing for over 24 hours in the mountains. In a race against time, Iranian forces searched for the colonel, but US special operations forces rescued him in a tense, high-risk and daring operation.
What did Trump say about the 'leaker'?
On Monday (Apr 6), President Trump publicly threatened to jail the “leaker” who revealed the second airman was still missing, saying it had tipped off Iran and made the rescue more dangerous.
He described it as a dangerous national security leak from inside the US government or military that reached the media while the second rescue was still in progress. He said the US would demand the media company name the source: "give it up or go to jail".
