Leak scandal – Israel’s attorney general gives permission to investigate Netanyahu

By Palestine Chronicle Staff

Suspects arrested as part of the ongoing investigation include an Israeli army officer and former spokesman for Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

Israel’s Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has given authorities permission to open an investigation into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office over the disclosure of security documents, Israeli media reported on Friday.

The security scandal comes as Netanyahu’s government faces a series of political and security crises, including the firing of defense chief Yoav Gallant, which has sparked significant opposition and widespread protests in Israel.

The Hebrew newspaper Maariv said Baharav-Miara’s approval meant that investigative authorities would also be allowed to investigate Netanyahu.

MAARIV: The Attorney General approves the opening of an investigation against Netanyahu over the leaks in his office. With the approval of the attorney general, investigators can launch an investigation into Netanyahu himself. pic.twitter.com/wJZsmvCKoQ

— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) November 8, 2024

The requirement for the attorney general’s consent to investigate suspicions against a prime minister “stems from Section 17 of the Basic Law of Government, which states that no criminal investigation shall be initiated against the prime minister except with the consent of the attorney general,” Maariv reported.

If the investigation develops in such a way that the prime minister is linked to security matters, the law requires investigators to stop the investigation until the attorney general receives permission to continue, the report added. Once approved, investigators can continue investigating the prime minister.

The attorney general’s office, as well as the police and Israel’s Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency, refused to comment officially on the report, Maariv said.

Two security-related cases

According to the report, investigations are currently underway into two security-related cases related to Netanyahu’s office. On the one hand, there is the suspicion of leaking secret documents, and on the other hand, there is an alleged attempt to change “protocols from the beginning of the war”.

“Intelligence leak” scandal rocks Netanyahu’s office – close associate arrested

Israeli media reported on Sunday that an Israeli army officer was the fifth suspect arrested in the investigation into leaked secret documents from Netanyahu’s office. Another detained suspect was reportedly a former spokesman for the Prime Minister’s Office.

“Damage to national security”

Last Friday, an Israeli district court judge partially lifted a gag order on the ongoing joint investigation by the Shin Bet, the police and the army.

“The investigation began after significant suspicions arose within the Shin Bet and the IDF, including through media publications, that classified and sensitive IDF intelligence information was being stolen and illegally removed, raising concerns about serious harm to national security and a threat to… revealed the sources of the information,” the court was quoted as saying by the Times of Israel.

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“As a result, the ability of the defense forces to achieve the goal of freeing the hostages (held in Gaza) could have been damaged,” it said.

The documents were allegedly written by Hamas, the Times of Israel said, and were subsequently leaked to the German newspaper Bild and the London-based Jewish Chronicle.

The arrests and investigation have been described as possibly “the biggest scandal within the Israeli government” since the genocidal war on Gaza began in October last year.

Opposition criticizes Netanyahu

After the first reports of the scandal, opposition leaders criticized Netanyahu.

In a post on X, the leader of the opposition Yesh Atid party, Yair Lapid, said said “The affair in the Prime Minister’s Office goes to the heart of the close relationship between the defense establishment and the Prime Minister and his staff.”

For Netanyahu, there is nothing more important than controlling the narrative. The suspicion that he and his helpers are using secret material for their own purposes is nothing new / Gidi Weitz

— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) November 4, 2024

At the same time, the leader of the National Unity Party of Israel, Benny Gantz said in a post on For better or for worse.”

Ongoing genocide

Israel ignored a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and faced international condemnation for its ongoing brutal offensive against Gaza.

Israel is currently before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians and has been waging a devastating war against Gaza since October 7th.

70% of victims in the Gaza Strip are children and women – UN criticizes Israel’s unprecedented killing rate

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 43,508 Palestinians have been killed and 102,684 injured so far.

In addition, at least 11,000 people are missing, believed to be lying dead under the rubble of their homes across the Gaza Strip.

Israel says 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa flood operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports that many Israelis were killed by friendly fire that day.

women and children

Palestinian and international organizations say the majority of those killed and wounded were women and children.

The Israeli war has led to acute famine, especially in the northern Gaza Strip, which has resulted in the deaths of many Palestinians, especially children.

Israeli aggression has also led to the forcible displacement of nearly two million people across the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of those displaced forced into the densely populated southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – now Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the Nakba 1948.

Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to the central Gaza Strip in a constant search for safety.

(The Palestine Chronicle)