Petition filed against incoming Mossad director on ‘integrity’ grounds

Ori Elmakayes and Telem-the Movement for Integrity in Government petition the High Court of Justice against the appointment of Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman as the next director of the Mossad intelligence agency.

The petition centers on alleged wrongdoing by Gofman when he commanded the IDF’s 210th Bashan Division — specifically his authorization of actions in which intelligence soldiers transmitted classified information to Elmakayes, who was 17 at the time and therefore a minor, and asked him to publish it online as part of an influence operation.

As a result of Gofman’s actions, Elmakayes was detained and interrogated by the Shin Bet domestic security agency, held in isolation for two months, and charged with espionage offense. He spent 18  months in detention before the charges were dropped.

Telem states that the petition cites this affair as well as what it says was Gofman’s failure to tell the truth to IDF investigators who probed the incident, along with the fact that “he was silent” during the legal proceedings against Elmakayes, “his failure to take responsibility for the affair and the abuse of a minor who had committed no offense, and his lack of trustworthiness.”

The petition also underlines opposition to Gofman’s appointment by the chair of the Senior Appointments Advisory Committee, retired Supreme Court president Asher Grunis. The committee approved Gofman by three votes to one, but Grunis stated in his minority opinion on the appointment that Gofman’s role in the Elmakayes affair amounted to a “very severe” ethics flaw” and that his appointment as Mossad chief was therefore “inappropriate,” according to media reports.

The petition also notes that there were “substantial factual contradictions” between the facts cited by Grunis and the other committee members in their respective opinions. It says that of the three committee members who approved the appointment, two did not have access to classified documents relating to the Elmakayes case. Grunis did have access to these documents, as did acting Civil Service Commissioner Daniel Hershkowitz, who voted in favor of Gofman’s appointment.

“In light of the serious flaws in the [committee’s] majority decision, and the extreme unreasonableness of the decision to approve the appointment, contrary to the committee chairman’s assertions regarding the integrity of the candidate’s qualifications… the petitioners ask the court to order the cancellation of the appointment and the annulment of the decision of the Senior Appointments Advisory Committee,” Telem states.