Netanyahu shares new and classified details about pager operation against Hezbollah during recent speech

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed apparently classified details about the pager operation against Hezbollah, when he publicly referred to an intelligence operation that preceded the pager attack. 

The remarks were made during his speech at the JNS International Policy Summit in Jerusalem, and reportedly caused great surprise in the defense establishment, according to Israel’s Channel 12 news. 

Speaking about the challenges Israel faced during the war, and their eventual successes, Netanyahu related several new details about the pager operation. Saying that Israel had originally intended to carry out the operation as part of the invasion of Lebanon planned for October, he explained why the decision was made to move the operation forward several weeks. 

“In the third week, I think, of September, we learned that Hamas, or rather that Hezbollah, had sent three beepers to be scanned in Iran,” Netanyahu related, sharing information already known to the media. However, he next stated that Israel had destroyed a scanner that was being brought in for Hezbollah to scan the pagers, after some Hezbollah operatives began to be suspicious. 

“We had previously bombed a scanner they were going to bring in, so we got rid of that and the guy who operates it,” Netanyahu stated. 

Sources familiar with the details of the operation told Channel 12 that this information is considered top secret and known to only a few. 

These details had been disqualified several times in the past by the military censor on the grounds that their disclosure could harm state security and expose intelligence sources and means. It is not clear at this time if Netanyahu had already cleared the sharing of this data with the heads of Israel’s security and intelligence agencies, to make sure that the revelation would not expose any intelligence sources. 

Netanyahu also revealed some of the decision making process behind the elimination of Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah. He said that the decision to take out Nasrallah was being debated before his trip to the United States to speak at the United Nations. 

Netanyahu revealed that after receiving a detailed intelligence report on Nasrallah, he concluded that the Hezbollah leader was more important to the Iranian axis than Iran itself. 

“I was particularly impressed by the fact that, not only was he a capable leader, but also that his relationship with Iran was somewhat different from what I thought. I would say he manipulated Iran much more than Iran manipulated him. He influenced Iran much more than Iran influenced him,” the prime minister related. “And when I read this report, I came to the clear conclusion that he was the axis of the axis. And if we remove him, the axis would break.” 

Netanyahu also revealed that there was some hesitancy in the cabinet over the fear of an Iranian ballistic missile attack, as happened after the killing of Iranian General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, one of the most senior commanders in the Quds Force, in an airstrike on the Iranian consulate building in Damascus, Syria. 

Netanyahu shared that the decision to eliminate Nasrallah was made while he was flying to the U.S., after receiving intelligence that Nasrallah would likely leave the place he was staying within the next couple days, and that Israeli intelligence did not know where he would move to. 

Netanyahu also affirmed that as with the beeper operation, he made the decision not to inform the United States. 

In fact, during his remarks, Netanyahu made several subtle attacks on the former Biden administration, insinuating that Israel didn’t share certain operational plans with the U.S. due to fears that information about the operations would be leaked. 

Describing the cabinet discussion about the pagers, he related that some people said Israel should notify the Americans. 

“I don’t read the New York Times that often, but give them the advance?” Netanyahu asked, implying that the Biden administration would have leaked the plans to the press beforehand, giving Hezbollah advance warning. Throughout 2024, there were several accusations by members of Netanyahu’s cabinet that Biden’s team was leaking crucial intelligence to the press in an attempt to head off unwanted Israeli military or security operations. 

The prime minister also explained the decision to invade Lebanon in October, asking, “Why October? Well, obviously because it’s one month ahead of November. You’ll figure it out.” 

This was in reference to the U.S. presidential election which took place at the beginning of November. 

Finally, Netanyahu also said that Israel only notified the U.S. of the strike on Hassan Nasrallah when the Israeli jets were already en route to the target, and any chance of leaking the information would be too late. 

He said he told then Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and then IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, “At best, we could tell them, you know, when the planes are en route, give them the courtesy.” 

The attack came while Netanyahu was finishing his speech at the U.N. 

“Right after the speech, I was meeting some Israeli journalists,” Netanyahu explained, while simultaneously criticizing Israeli media. “I don't do that very often; there's no point, and my military secretary came in and gave me a note with one word, ‘Butza,’ done, done.”