Transcript reportedly captures PM’s top aide asking stenographer to falsify Oct. 7 records
Braverman asked PM’s stenographer in January 2024 to change timestamp on secure call between PM and his military secretary, was told twice that doing so was illegal
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman, tried to persuade a stenographer to falsify the prime minister’s phone records from the morning of October 7, 2023, and was told twice that doing so was illegal, according to a transcript of a conversation reported by Channel 12 on Saturday.
Braverman has been accused of tampering with the phone records in January 2024, three months after the Hamas-led invasion and massacre. The prime minister’s ex-military secretary, Avi Gil, said in a pair of interviews earlier this week that Braverman sought to doctor the time when Netanyahu first spoke with Gil on his secure line, changing it from the actual time of 6:40 a.m. to 6:29 a.m., the moment the attack started.
According to the transcript quoted by Channel 12, Braverman spoke with a stenographer in the Prime Minister’s Office in January 2024 and urged her to change the timestamp, which she refused to do.
“Wow, how nice, look at how sharp he is,” Braverman said of Netanyahu while reading the transcript of the premier’s 6:40 a.m. phone call, according to Channel 12. “This was at 6:29, not 6:40. Change the time.”
“I’m not allowed to. Look, it’s computerized. I can’t touch it,” she reportedly replied.
Braverman then falsely said he had himself been on the call and again instructed her to change the timestamp, according to the network, leading her to reply, “Tzachi, I’m prohibited from changing it.”
Braverman then reportedly changed the timestamp by hand.
Gil has stated that he woke Netanyahu up via a WhatsApp call at 6:29, as Hamas began its attack, and told the prime minister to get to a secure line. He called Netanyahu a second time, at 6:40 on the secure line, to give the prime minister the information he had gathered about the attack, and told him, “We are at war.”
In response to the TV report, Braverman’s representative told the network that Braverman never claimed to have been on a 6:29 a.m. call, and that Gil neglected to tell investigators that Gil and Braverman spoke at 6:33 a.m.
According to Braverman, Gil told him in that 6:33 a.m. call about his phone conversation with Netanyahu four minutes prior.
The reported contents of the transcript from January 2024 were aired by Channel 12 a day after Hebrew media reported that police believe they have enough evidence to charge Braverman for tampering with the records from the morning of October 7.
However, the reports said it did not appear likely that Braverman would be indicted.
According to Friday’s reports, police wrapped up the probe over a year ago and handed over the investigatory materials to prosecutors, with the decision to indict Braverman now resting with Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.
Channel 13 news reported that prosecutors lean toward closing the case, while the Haaretz daily quoted sources who said the chances that Braverman would be charged appeared low as it would be legally difficult to disprove his claim that the change was a mistake rather than intentional.
In addition to this case, Braverman faces an indictment for obstruction of justice, fraud and breach of trust in connection with a scandal over the leak of classified documents. Due to those allegations, he has been unable to take up the post of Israel’s next ambassador to the United Kingdom, for which he was designated.
The Times of Israel Community.