Railing against cabinet leaks, Netanyahu calls to subject ministers to polygraph tests
‘I am not prepared to continue like this,’ PM declares after detailed reports emerge from of dustup between cabinet members and the IDF chief of staff
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. 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"
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that cabinet members and high ranking officials attending discussions of national security issues should be compelled to undergo lie detector tests, according to a report Sunday, arguing that too many details of government deliberations are being shared with the press.
“We have a plague of leaks and I am not prepared to continue like this, which is why I’ve instructed work on a bill that [will require] everyone who sits in cabinet and security discussions, including political and professional ranks, to undergo a polygraph,” Channel 12 cited Netanyahu as saying during Sunday’s cabinet meeting.
The prime minister’s comments came on the heels of widespread press coverage of a January 4 cabinet meeting, ostensibly called to deal with the question of postwar Gaza but which ended in acrimony and recriminations between cabinet members and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi.
Leaked comments from the meeting painted a picture of harsh verbal sparring between hard-right lawmakers and Halevi, who had just announced plans for the army to probe its own mistakes leading up to Hamas’s attack on October 7. Ministers appeared unhappy with the very formation of the probe team, seemingly concerned its findings could also reflect badly on them, as well as with the identities of some of the appointees.
This is not the first time that Netanyahu has called for such a measure against members of his own government, having made a similar call for legislation requiring polygraph tests during a previous government meeting in mid-November. He also reportedly required staff to undergo tests in 2022 amid leaks.
His November call split his ministers, with Transportation Minister Miri Regev expressing support and then-Energy Minister Israel Katz declaring “I don’t need a polygraph, I never leaked from the cabinet,” according to Channel 12.
“Leaks from government meetings [on a security issue] and the security policy cabinet, constitute a criminal offense, help the enemy and harm the security of the country,” Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs tweeted then.
