"The ban was not only lifted for bureaucratic reasons," said Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, the army's recently retired spokesman and one of the men who maintained Israel's unwavering refusal to comment. "Israel's gag orders are truly about protecting matters of national security. In the case of destroying Syria's nuclear reactor, there were security risks posed by the information getting out that the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] was behind it," he wrote in an op-ed.

Source: Los Angeles Times March 22, 2018 23:21 UTC