Israeli Shin Bet Officer Arrested for Leaking Sensitive Information Amid Ongoing Political Tensions

Watan-In parallel with ongoing discussions and mutual accusations about the war and stalled deals, Israel finds itself once again embroiled in an internal debate concerning a longstanding issue. This comes after the lifting of a gag order related to an investigation into “Jewish terrorism” conducted by the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet).

The investigation centers around a Shin Bet officer who has been arrested on suspicion of leaking sensitive information to a government minister and journalists about the infiltration of extremist followers of Meir Kahane into the police.

According to the details revealed today, the Shin Bet officer has been detained since last Wednesday for leaking internal information to Minister for Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli and some Israeli journalists.

Minister of Internal Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is suspected by Shin Bet of facilitating the infiltration of Kahanists into the police force, quickly responded, claiming that Shin Bet had gathered information against him for political assassination. He also accused the agency of gathering information against the new police commissioner, the head of the prison services, and several police leaders who had followed the law and respected the minister’s directives.

This conflict has been ongoing since the beginning of the year, in the context of the government’s judicial reforms (seen as a political coup), which led to tensions between the political level and the security establishment. This has also fueled the ongoing debate over who is responsible for the significant failure on October 7th.

In this dispute, the government claims that the failure lies with the security and military establishment, which failed to detect Hamas’s plans and could not face the initial attacks. In contrast, the security establishment argues that while it may have failed in its responsibilities, the greater failure is strategic, as the government had mistakenly believed that Hamas could be deterred and that peace could be bought with money.

Furthermore, the government hindered the assassination of Hamas leaders, seeking to maintain Hamas’s rule in Gaza and thereby reinforce the geopolitical division between Gaza and the West Bank, preventing progress toward a two-state solution and the creation of a Palestinian state.