Lapid Accuses Netanyahu of Falsifying Security Discussion Protocol and Calls for Criminal Investigation Against Him

SadaNews - The leader of the opposition, Yair Lapid, during a meeting of the "Yesh Atid" party faction in the Knesset today, Monday, accused the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, of falsifying the protocol of security discussions and demanded that a criminal investigation be opened against him.

Lapid stated that the mentioned protocol was documented during discussions to assess the situation held in Netanyahu's office on October 1, 2023, just seven days before the Hamas attack on October 7.

According to Lapid, the head of the Shin Bet at the time, Ronen Bar, recommended during the discussions to prepare for several scenarios of escalating tensions in the Gaza Strip, while the Chief of Staff of the Israeli army at that time, Herzi Halevi, recommended preparing a war plan against Gaza.

He added that Bar's and Halevi's recommendations came in light of "serious and urgent intelligence warnings" regarding Hamas's preparations in Gaza for combat.

Lapid continued that the document reviewed by Netanyahu last Thursday is "akin to falsifying security protocols in an official document that came out of the Israeli Prime Minister's office, in a manner that must be directed".

He referred to excerpts from Netanyahu as part of his response to the State Comptroller's report on the October 7 attack, which angered security officials who participated in those discussions, saying that Netanyahu mentioned those excerpts from the discussion protocol in a "selective" manner.

Security officials commented on these excerpts, saying that "Netanyahu is causing irreversible long-term damage and leading to the disintegration of the relationships between the political level and the high professional (security) levels, when he deliberately makes concise statements over long hours without considering the broader context of the policy he adopts".

Lapid said that "the problem is not that Netanyahu is lying. This is not new news. What happened here is much more serious. Systematically reformulating security discussion protocols is a violation of the Official Secrets Law".

Lapid indicated that "I sent a letter today to the security head of the security apparatus and to the legal advisor of the Prime Minister's office and to the legal advisor of the Ministry of Security, demanding answers. According to the answers provided, the Shin Bet and the police will be compelled to open a criminal investigation, and against whom it will be opened".