Israel admits fighter jet 'nearly shot down' over Iran, pilot's split-second save averts catastrophe

The Israeli military has acknowledged that one of its fighter jets was nearly shot down during an operation over Iran, admitting that the aircraft came “close to being hit” before the pilot’s alertness and professionalism allowed the sortie to be completed successfully. The rare admission, reported by The Times of Israel, punctures the image of total safety in Iranian airspace and suggests that despite repeated claims of U.S.-Israeli air superiority, Tehran’s air-defence network still poses a serious threat to manned combat aircraft. The incident comes as broader signs of strain are emerging on the U.S.-Israeli side of the war: U.S. tanker aircraft have reportedly been damaged in Saudi Arabia, a KC-135 crash in Iraq killed all six crew members on board, and Israel has reportedly warned Washington that it is running critically low on ballistic missile interceptors. Reuters-linked reporting on the Semafor claim says U.S. officials had anticipated Israel’s shortage for months, while America’s own interceptor supplies remain sufficient to protect its personnel and interests. Meanwhile, Turkey’s foreign minister has said there is currently no serious push to restart direct U.S.-Iran negotiations, reinforcing the sense that the conflict is still deepening faster than diplomacy can catch up.