From the Liveblog of
Thursday, May 28, 2026
Shas chair accuses AG of indicting PM’s aide to distract from her failure to stop appointment of new Mossad chief
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Shas chairman Aryeh Deri accuses Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara of indicting senior Netanyahu aide Jonatan Urich to distract attention from her failure to prevent the appointment of Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman, the prime minister’s military secretary, as the next Mossad chief.
“The ousted attorney general is trying to divert public opinion from the expected defeat she faces over the appointment of Roman Gofman, and therefore she is attacking Jonatan Urich as part of the continued political persecution and attempt to overthrow the right-wing government via the judicial system,” Deri says in a statement.
“I have known Jonatan as a God-fearing man of faith, dedicated, professional and a true patriot of the state of Israel,” Deri continues. “The attempt to attribute to him a violation of state security is a disgrace, aimed at removing him from the Prime Minister’s Office and terrorizing right-wingers.”
Baharav-Miara announced Urich’s indictment today over allegations that he leaked sensitive documents to the German tabloid Bild in a bid to sway public opinion against a hostage deal with the Hamas terror group in September 2024.
She also accused the appointments committee that reapproved the selection of Gofman as new Mossad chief of ignoring key facts in the case, asserting that Gofman’s actions in a controversial incident from 2022 constitute a “substantial blemish” on his ethical conduct and saying that the High Court of Justice should therefore annul his appointment.
The Times of Israel Community.