The head of the IDF’s information security unit has given testimony as part of an investigation into a suspected leak of classified material tied to the Prime Minister’s Office, officials said.
Col. G., who leads the IDF Information Security Authority — the military body responsible for safeguarding classified information — testified in the investigation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman. The probe centers on concerns that sensitive information from law enforcement or intelligence agencies was improperly disclosed.
Investigators are examining whether Braverman obtained a list of suspects prepared by the Shin Bet and later presented it to Eli Feldstein, a former official who has described a late-night meeting at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv. The Shin Bet is also involved in investigating the suspected leak, which relates to classified documents allegedly transferred to the German newspaper Bild.
During Col. G.’s testimony, investigators sought to determine how the names may have reached Braverman and whether there were attempts within the information security system to interfere with or obstruct the investigation. They are also examining whether Braverman’s reported statement that he could “shut this down” was followed by concrete actions.
According to a senior official familiar with the investigation, authorities are focused on two key questions: what, if anything, Braverman told Feldstein about the investigation during their meeting, and if Braverman did present a list of names, how he came to know its contents.
The official said there is concern that, during a particularly sensitive stage of the inquiry, classified information may have been transferred to the Prime Minister’s Office.
Braverman on Monday filed an appeal against a police decision barring him from the Prime Minister’s Office for 15 days. In a filing to the Rishon LeZion Magistrate’s Court, his lawyers, Jacques Chen and Prof. Yaniv Vaki, said Braverman agreed to the release conditions late at night “under protest and with no real choice,” calling the investigation “a bizarre political probe.”
A hearing on the appeal is scheduled for Tuesday before Judge Menachem Mizrahi.
Investigators from the Lahav 433 national crimes unit arrived at Braverman’s home in Ness Ziona on Sunday morning and detained him for questioning under caution on suspicion of obstructing the investigation into the alleged transfer of classified documents to Bild. He was questioned for about 13 hours, during which investigators seized two mobile phones.