Report: Security establishment shocked Netanyahu revealed classified details of beeper op

Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the JNS conference in Jerusalem, April 27, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the JNS conference in Jerusalem, April 27, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The security establishment was stunned to hear Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reveal classified details of the September 2024 beeper and walkie-talkie operation against Hezbollah in a speech last night, Channel 12 reports.

Speaking at the Jewish News Syndicate conference, Netanyahu said that Israel bombed the scanning machine that Iran sent to Lebanon once Hezbollah suspected that its beepers were booby-trapped, and took out its operator as well.

“We learned that Hezbollah had sent three beepers to be scanned in Iran; we had previously bombed the scanner they were going to bring in, so we got rid of that, and the guy who operates it,” he said.

These details had been censored repeatedly because they would expose intelligence sources, and thus harm national security, according to the report.

As prime minister, Netanyahu can legally reveal heretofore classified material, but this is usually done in consultation with the relevant security services to ensure that no harm will come from the revelation. No such coordination was done this time, claims Channel 12.

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