The White House has been forced to delete a photo of President Joe Biden meeting U.S. special forces in Israel which showed their faces.
A small group of U.S. special forces are currently in Israel advising on how to potentially rescue scores of hostages, including Americans, held by terror group Hamas in Gaza.
The image of Biden shaking hands with them during his visit to Israel on Wednesday was published on the official White House Instagram page, and it could have revealed their identities.
It appeared to violate Department of Defense rules by revealing the men’s faces, which are usually blurred in any officially released photographs.
The now-deleted White House Instagram post 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 terroris1t attacks.’
The White House eventually apologized for the mistake in showing the special forces operators’ faces, and took the photo down.
‘As soon as this was brought to our attention, we immediately deleted the photo,’ a White House spokesman told DailyMail.
‘We regret the error and any issues this may have caused.’
Republicans slammed the blunder, with GOP Rep. Diana Harshbarger calling it ‘gross incompetence’.
