ALBAWABA - The White House has removed a social media picture that seemed to show President Joe Biden shaking hands with American special operators in Israel during his recent visit.
The service members in the photo with Biden were not wearing any badges or insignia that identified their units, but their appearance and tactical equipment were customary with US special operations forces.
The Defense Department does not usually make public images of US special operations' entire faces showing. In most cases, the US military disguises the faces of special operations soldiers.
The caption to the photograph, which the White House shared on Instagram, read: "In Israel, President Biden met with first responders to thank them for their bravery and the work they’re doing in response to the Hamas terrorist attacks,".
Soon after posting the picture, the White House took it down, which was followed by a number of social media posts bashing Biden for "compromising" the troops' faces while they were in Israel.
US authorities have frequently stated that there are no current plans to station American soldiers in Israel.
Nonetheless, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has instructed the Joint Special Operations Command, the United States Special Operations Command, and the U.S. Central Command to assist Israel in planning actions to rescue hostages taken by Hamas since the Oct. 7 operation.
On Thursday, Task & Purpose, a military news website, asked Air Force Gen. Pat Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, if any U.S. special operations forces are currently deployed to Israel.
" I don’t have any specifics to provide for you,” Ryder said during a Pentagon news conference. “If your question is: Do we have special operations forces conducting boots-on-the-ground operations? Again, you’ve heard us say that we are not going to have boots on the ground. We are providing planning and intelligence support to the Israelis as it pertains to the hostage recovery. That’s about the extent of what I’m able to provide right now".
