Affidavit by military intelligence officer in Gofman appointment case filed to High Court

The Attorney General’s Office announces that it has filed the affidavit of a former military intelligence officer referred to as Gimmel to the High Court of Justice, in accordance with its orders from last Tuesday, in the framework of petitions against the appointment of Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman as the next head of the Mossad.

The affidavit was signed in the presence of an attorney from the Military Advocate General’s office. No officials from the Attorney General’s Office were involved in preparing the affidavit, the statement says, as attorneys for Gofman and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had requested.

The affidavit has been filed as a classified document, but the Attorney General’s Office has requested that the IDF declassify it so that it is publicly available.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara is also set to request permission to file additional material to the court, which she believes is relevant to the case. She will also request to make additional arguments on the basis of this new material, either orally or in writing.

Gofman was appointed as the next head of the Mossad in April this year, but several petitions were filed against the decision, including one by a blogger whom Gofman had authorized to publish classified information in a social media influence campaign while he was serving as the commander of the IDF’s 210th Division.

Gofman was investigated by the IDF and given a disciplinary note in his record over the incident, specifically for denying knowledge of the influence operation during the investigation.

Gimmel, a brigadier general, questioned Gofman during the IDF investigation and therefore has knowledge of the extent of Gofman’s involvement in the affair, but the Senior Appointment’s Advisory Committee, which approved Gofman’s appointment, did not hear from the military intelligence officer.

Following a hearing last week, the High Court requested that Gimmel file an affidavit, including details of what he knew Gofman himself knew of the influence operation affair, in order to determine if the advisory committee failed to properly evaluate whether Gofman acted unethically, and if he did, whether he was a fitting candidate to head the Mossad.