Report: Uzi Arad leaked secret info to media

National Security Council head leaked information to media, then quit to avoid indictment, Channel 10 reports

Aviad Glickman|Published: 05.17.11 , 21:47

Former National Security Council head Uzi Arad leaked sensitive information to the media, and then resigned to avoid being indicted, Channel 10 reported Tuesday evening.

Resignation

Uzi Arad quits National Security Council

Attila Somfalvi

Prime minister announces national security advisor has asked to end his term, says he is reviewing an overseas capacity for him together with Foreign Minister Lieberman, who blocked Arad's appointment as London ambassador

Uzi Arad quits National Security Council

According to the report, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior Shin Bet officials informed Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein that Arad was responsible for the breach.

Weinstein asserted that Arad's disclosure of the confidential details was a slip of the tongue, and decided not to prosecute him.

In July 2010, the Shin Bet was requested to investigate a leak of sensitive security information that originated in the Prime Minister's Office. In addition to Arad, who failed the lie detector test, communications advisor Nir Hefetz and Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauser were also investigated. Both Hefetz and Hauser were found to be speaking the truth.

Leak damages ties with ally

The investigation came to a close, and in February Arad announced his resignation and intention to return to the academic sector. But new evidence uncovered by the Shin Bet paint a new picture: Arad was the one responsible for the leak that damaged Israel's ties with a significant ally.

It remains unclear which national security information was leaked. Elements involved in the case said after the investigation was exposed that "apparently it wasn't a one-time event, but a series of sensitive leaks." Other sources linked the Shin Bet query to the leak that touched upon a meeting between Netanyahu and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev regarding the sale of Russian missiles.

When the investigation became public knowledge, the Prime Minister's Office said that Netanyahu did not instruct the Shin Bet to use a lie detector, but asked to find out how the national security data was leaked.

"We are not in the habit of addressing investigation matters, even when the claims are fundamentally false and full of inaccuracies," the Prime Minister's Office responded in a statement. "As it was previously stated, Dr. Uzi Arad has asked of his own accord to resign at the end of his second term.

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted the request, and acknowledged his significant contribution to Israel's National Security Council… and his strict devotion to its rules and policies."

The Justice Ministry said in response that Arad took responsibility for the events leading to the publication of secret information but denied doing it deliberately and later announced his retirement.