State suspects security breach by ousted missile defense chief
Yair Ramati, fired Sunday for holding classified documents at home, reportedly held intel on his phone, showed it to others
The Defense Ministry is investigating a possible security breach of its missile defense program, after the respected head of the program was booted from his post Sunday amid allegations that he improperly maintained state secrets.
According to a report by Channel 2 on Monday, Yair Ramati — who was responsible for developing Israel’s Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow missile defense systems — may have inadvertently “leaked” the classified information he held on his home computer. Ramati also held secret information on his cell phone, and is said to have shown the documents to people who were not authorized to see it, the TV channel reported.
Sources in the Defense Ministry told the TV station that Ramati’s actions “damaged Israel’s security.”
Underlining the severity of Ramati’s actions, the ministry said that Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon had approved his termination. “It went straight to the defense minister before such a dramatic and significant decision was made,” sources said.
Channel 10 news reported that Ramati “was warned twice” before he was fired, while Haaretz reported that the Defense Ministry was tracking his actions for more than a month without his knowledge before he was shown the door.
There was no suggestion that Ramati had deliberately done anything to harm Israeli interests.
Officials gave no specific information as to what Ramati did to prompt his dismissal.
There was no comment from Ramati.
His surprise dismissal Sunday came after a month that saw two new successes in the missile programs under Ramati’s purview.
On December 10, the Arrow 3 interballistic missile defense system passed its first full test, downing a target in space. The system is slated to replace the Arrow 2 defense array.
A week later, Ramati announced that the David’s Sling system, meant to protect against medium-range threats, had finished the testing phase and would begin to be deployed by the Israeli Air Force.
Ramati has worked on Israel’s missile program since 1981, after he left the military. He headed the Homa missile defense directorate within the Defense Ministry since 2012.
In 2003, he won the Israel Defense Prize for work in developing the Arrow 2 program.
