Senior IDF officer suspended after classified documents stolen from him
GOC Northern Command suspends the officer after an encrypted cellphone and several classified documents were stolen from his car. CID is investigating.
An IDF colonel was suspended last week after an encrypted cell phone and classified documents were stolen from his vehicle.
The officer, who led large-scale military projects on the northern border, reported the device and documents missing immediately after it came to his attention.
The theft happened in a civilian area last week in the middle of the officer's work day.
The IDF's Criminal Investigations Division (CID) is working alongside the Israel Police on account of an assessment that the stolen device and documents were not the initial objective of the thieves.
It appears that this is a serious information security violation, and so it is doubtful that the colonel will keep his position or even keep serving as an officer in the IDF.
Like his fellow commanding officers, he was also exposed to the lessons of similar cases, wherein sensitive documents and devices were stolen from IDF officers, a fact that caused further embarrassment in the military's commanding branch.
This is the fourth case since the end of 2015 in which valuable military equipment was stolen from a commanding IDF officer under civilian criminal circumstances.
About a month ago, IDF Manpower Directorate Chief Hagai Topolanski resigned after his laptop was stolen from his home.
Two months before that another colonel was suspended from the Air Force after his military encrypted laptop was stolen from his home.
