WASHINGTON — White House officials remain mum about a purported Israeli counterstrike on Iranian soil, the continuation of a stark message shift about American and allied intelligence capabilities in the Middle East over just a few short days.

The episode shows how Biden administration officials employed silence at they tried to avoid the outbreak of a broader war. But it also raises questions about transparency at a time U.S. officials continue to be publicly critical of a key ally’s handling of civilians in a conflict zone and humanitarian aid trying to reach them.

John Kirby, White House national security communications adviser, was downright braggadocious on April 15 as he spiked the proverbial football over how U.S. military forces helped Israel thwart an unprecedented attack by Iranian missiles and drones.

Kirby lauded American intelligence systems and assets that allowed them to determine, along with Israel and other allies, that Iran was preparing to attack on April 13. But just four short days later, after Israel responded with military strikes inside Iran, the White House didn’t want to talk about its world-class intel.

“We have lots of tools and vehicles, through intelligence and other information methods … to glean a picture of what an adversary may or may not do. Now, sometimes it’s right. Sometimes it’s not 100 percent right,” Kirby had told reporters.

“We had a good sense of what Iran was planning to do, and we achieved that level of situational awareness on our own and working with our Israeli counterparts,” he added during one of his feistiest briefing room appearances. “The notion, the idea, that Iran sent us an email or picked up the phone and told us what they were planning to do is just ludicrous. It didn’t happen. I don’t know how else to be more clear about it.”

The Biden administration, once all the Iranian drones and missiles had been intercepted, wanted to send a clear message to Iranian leaders. Here’s how Kirby delivered it: “When the president says we’re going to take our commitments to the region seriously, when we’re going to help Israel defend itself, we got skin in the game — and we proved that.”

Israeli officials waited a few days to respond, and did so after a high-level virtual meeting with U.S. officials that had been scheduled to talk about Biden administration worries about how Israel under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been carrying out his brutal campaign in Gaza.

But much of the meeting was about Iran’s attack, U.S. officials said.

Israeli security officials agreed Thursday to take White House officials’ concerns about Gaza “into account and to have further follow up discussions between experts,” the White House said in a meeting summary. Prior to Iran’s retaliatory attack, U.S. officials described Netanyahu as making specific “commitments” to change course in the strip.

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