US President Donald Trump on Monday threatened an unspecified media outlet with prosecution if it does not reveal the person who leaked information about a US military pilot who was missing in Iran.
The leak pertained to the second airman who was rescued from within Iran over the weekend - a mission that it now appears the Trump administration wanted to keep under wraps.
"We're going to go to the media company that released it, and we're going to say, 'National security. Give it up or go to jail'," Trump told a news conference.
Hours after the presser, an Israeli journalist claimed that he was the first to report that the US was seeking out a second crew member of the F-15e that was downed over Iran. The New Arab takes a look at the details of the alleged "leak", and who was reportedly involved. Who is Amit Segal? Israeli journalist Amit Segal told followers in his Telegram channel on Monday that certain details in relation to the rescue mission were "first published" on his feed.
"As you may recall, this was first published here," Segal said, after also reporting the threat from President Trump.
Segal is chief political analyst for Israel's Channel 12 and is also an analyst for the newspaper Israel Hayom. The reporter is also reportedly close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with a video circulated earlier this year showing Segal claiming that the premier had offered him a ministerial role in 2022.
“I told him [Netanyahu], thank you for the offer, but I’m not interested,” Segal said in the video. Who tipped off Segal? Segal did not reveal who his source for the missing weapons officer was, and also declined to reveal to media outlets who he had got the information from, according to Firstpost. "I’m not sure I was the first,” Segal said. "And anyway- I will protect my sources." 'Not the first' Writing later on social media, Segal denied being the first to reveal that a second member of the fighter jet crew was missing.
"I was not the first journalist to report that the pilot was missing, nor that he was injured. I suppose the accusations are a testament to my timely reporting, but the fact is that The Guardian and two Israeli channels broke the story before I did. I imagine 'Israeli Journalist Endangers American Pilot' makes a better headline," Segal wrote on social media.
A report by The New York Post has highlighted that Segal, alongside Axios correspondent and former Israeli army officer Barak Ravid, was among the first to report about the second missing pilot on Friday.