From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, April 15, 2025
Shin Bet: Staffer suspected of leaks that ‘endanger security’; probe was obligatory; no journalists questioned or bugged
The Shin Bet security service comments on an investigation into an agency official who allegedly leaked classified information to journalists and politicians.
In its first statement on the matter since elements of the case were cleared for publication this morning, the Shin Bet says an investigation was launched after the official allegedly leaked information that “endangers security.”
“Within the framework of the probe, the Shin Bet staffer was suspected of abusing his security role and his direct access to the Shin Bet’s information systems in order to take classified material and transfer it to unauthorized people, several times and in a suspicious manner,” it says.
“In light of the grave suspicion that classified material was extracted by the Shin Bet staffer in a way that endangers security, an internal, obligatory investigation was initiated into the staffer’s actions,” it goes on.
“Due to the findings of the probe, suspicions against him were established that he actively worked to remove classified materials, in a prejudiced manner, from the service’s information systems, in violation of the law and the rules to which the organization’s employees are bound,” the Shin Bet adds.
“This is a grave and unusual matter, in which the scale of the material that was taken and transferred to unauthorized people was not clear from the start. It was accordingly necessary to stop the leak of the information.”
While several coalition lawmakers have slammed the investigation as threatening journalistic freedoms, the Shin Bet says no journalist has been questioned or asked to give testimony over the affair and that “no journalists’ phones have been bugged.”
The Shin Bet also says that over the past year, there has been a significant increase in the number of leaks of classified information by employees of the security establishment.
It reveals that over 20 probes of classified leaks have been carried out, seeking to dry up the spillage.
