The White House has deleted a photo that showed U.S. special operation force members meeting with President Joe Biden during his visit to Israel on October 18. The photo, which was posted on the official White House Instagram page, had not blurred out the faces of the Delta Force operators. Self-proclaimed intelligence analyst Sam Shoemate shared a censored screenshot of the photo on Twitter, stating that the Biden administration had made a “massive failure” by posting it without proper precautions. The photo had gained over 6,000 likes before it was removed an hour later.
The U.S. Department of Defense usually blurs the identities of special operations forces in photos and videos due to the sensitive nature of their operations. The White House later apologized for the mistake and stated that they had deleted the photo from their social media account. Republican congressional candidate Joe Kent, a retired Green Beret combat veteran, criticized the Biden administration for jeopardizing the identities of the service members involved in dangerous missions.
During a press briefing on October 19, Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder was asked about the photo and whether there is a policy against taking photos of special forces. Brig. Gen. Ryder referred the question to the White House, stating that he did not have any information to provide. When asked about the presence of U.S. special forces operators in Israel, Brig. Gen. Ryder mentioned that the United States is providing planning and intelligence support to Israel for hostage recovery, but he did not provide further details.
The situation in Israel involves 199 hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, including American citizens. Israel has launched attacks on Gaza and implemented a blockade until the hostages are freed. The U.S. government is working with Israel to rescue the hostages, but has no plans to send troops. The State Department has confirmed the deaths of 30 U.S. citizens and reported that 13 Americans are missing. The White House representative expressed regret for the error and any resulting issues.