Defense minister may be abusing power to protect fellow Likud member Tali Gotliv from indictment, AG says

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara tells Defense Minister Israel Katz that his failure to sign a confidentiality certificate regarding the prosecution of Likud MK Tali Gotliv has “raised concerns” that he is abusing his power to protect a member of his own party from being indicted.

Gotliv is alleged to have violated the Law for the Shin Bet in 2024 by disclosing the identity of a Shin Bet agent when she exposed the partner of key anti-government activist Shikma Bressler as an official in the security service.

Writing to Katz, who, like Gotliv, is a Likud member, Baharav-Miara tells the defense minister that his signature on the confidentiality certificate — designed to prevent the disclosure of classified information during a trial — is necessary to enable an indictment to be brought against Gotliv.

The attorney general notes that Katz’s office told the Shin Bet on August 10 that he had refused to sign the certificate, despite being informed that this could lead to the exposure of the intelligence community’s work methods.

“Your refusal to sign the confidentiality certificate… without presenting any substantive explanation justifying the recommendations of security officials gives rise to a concern of an abuse of your power, and the obstruction of a legitimate legal procedure,” Baharav-Miara tells the defense minister, noting specifically that Gotliv and Katz are members of the same party.

Katz, in response, accuses the attorney general of sending her letter to the press before he even received it, which he says is a “disgusting” way to act.

The defense minister claims he has not been able to deal with the issue of the confidentiality certificate “owing to my many and urgent dealings with matters of security and diplomacy,” and that he will address the request after consulting with the relevant officials.