High Court challenges petitioners over claims against designated new Mossad chief

Judges of the High Court of Justice press the petitioners against the appointment of Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman as the new Mossad chief on the issue of whether Gofman knew that Ori Elmakayes, whom his division used in an online influence operation, was a minor at the time.

Justice Alex Stein repeatedly insists that there is no solid evidence that Gofman knew at the time in 2022 that Elmakayes was a minor.

Stein asserts that the senior appointments committee, which voted three to one to appoint Gofman, was not presented with such evidence, and that it would be difficult for the petitioners to therefore demonstrate that the committee’s decision was totally unreasonable and should be reversed.

An attorney for Elmakayes, who was indicted for publishing classified information before the charges were eventually dropped, argues that the committee members did not ask the relevant questions of an IDF official who appeared before them during the appointments process.

And the attorney says that Gofman knew in real time that Elmakayes was in the IDF recruitment process, implying that he would have known he was below the age of enlistment and a minor, a line of argument that Stein says is reasonable.

During the hearing, Stein has repeatedly threatened to eject anyone who interrupts the proceedings and even sanction them, although he is yet to do so.

Likud MK Tali Gotliv who frequently attends High Court hearings and interrupts them, interjects on several occasions, leading Justice Daphne Barak-Erez to threaten her with being removed from the courtroom, although the MK has yet to be ejected.