Shin Bet Files Complaint Over Leak It Says Put Netanyahu’s Abu Dhabi Trip at Risk

The Prime Minister’s Office said Monday evening that the Shin Bet had filed a complaint with the chief military censor, demanding that Channel 12 be held fully accountable over a serious censorship violation. The complaint concerns the publication of the prime minister’s visit to Abu Dhabi yesterday, before he had returned to Israel.

According to the Shin Bet: "Publishing the visit at the time it was published created a risk to the prime minister’s security, to the operation and to the forces on the ground. In addition, publishing the visit and the way it was carried out exposed the service’s operational methods, independently placing future operations at greater risk."

It was alleged that the publication endangered the lives of the prime minister, his wife and the delegation, which included the Mossad chief, the National Security Council head, Maj. Gen. Guy Markizano, the military secretary, the head of the Shin Bet’s security division, the flight crew and the security team.

The complaint focuses on the fact that the flight was published at 9:38 p.m., while the plane was still far from Israel’s borders; it landed in Israel about an hour later, at 10:27 p.m. The Prime Minister’s Office also said that a Mossad assessment of the severity of the damage caused by Channel 12’s publication stated: "This leak constituted a serious security threat to the safety of the prime minister and the delegation... We ask to raise a flag and designate the publication incident as a serious event that harmed the security of the State of Israel."