A Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) official was arrested last week on suspicion of leaking classified information to unauthorized individuals, the Justice Ministry’s Police Investigation Department (PID) said on Tuesday.
The official would remain in custody at least until midday Wednesday, a district court judge ruled on Tuesday.
According to the PID, which investigates allegations of police misconduct, “Despite the existence of a gag order on all details of the case, the order was blatantly violated, and details from the ongoing investigation were published illegally.”
“In light of the dissemination of partial and incorrect information, it was decided to lift the gag order in order to halt the continued spread of misleading information,” the statement added. All information other than the suspect’s name was then permitted for publication.
Per Israeli law, the PID has the authority to investigate Shin Bet employees after receiving special approvals.The leaked information in question was not mentioned in the PID statement. However, Uri Korb and Sivan Russo, the suspect’s lawyers, said that there were two leaks in question.
As for the suspect, who the lawyers said had served in the Shin Bet for decades with dedication and professionalism, he admitted to leaking information.
At the same time, he added that he had “conveyed information of immense public importance with the intention of bringing it to public attention while ensuring that no security-related information was disclosed.”
The suspect “approached a government minister and two journalists on two separate matters of paramount public significance. One involved the investigation/review process that Shin Bet leaders sought to conduct regarding certain political figures and their surroundings. This information was shared with [Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism] Minister [Amichai] Chikli and journalist Amit Segal,” Korb and Russo said.
“Additionally, our client provided information from the full Shin Bet investigation concerning October 7, which was not released to the public. Contrary to the paraphrase that was published – primarily pointing to the political echelon on certain issues – the information presented a more complex picture regarding the Shin Bet’s conduct and stance prior to the disaster.
“Our client shared this information of immense public importance with journalist Shirit Avitan Cohen; this [act] did not endanger national security – that is an undisputed fact,” the lawyers said.
The first leak, which Segal reported on March 23, revealed a document that appeared to show that the Shin Bet had launched an investigation into Kahanism’s infiltration of the Israel Police.
The Kahane Chai party (“Kahane is alive”), or “Kach” for short, is a designated terrorist organization according to Israeli law. Named after Rabbi Meir Kahane, the movement endorses racist policies against Israeli Arabs and Palestinians.
National Security Minister MK Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the Israel Police, belonged to the movement in the past. Although he has since declared that he is no longer affiliated with it, in recent years, he attended and spoke at memorial ceremonies for Kahane.
The second leak, the one to Avitan Cohen, was published on March 25.
This investigation had been under a gag order since April 6. However, Likud MK Tally Gotliv intentionally violated the order on Monday.
After revealing the main details of the case, Gotliv said in a post on X/Twitter that the gag order was intended to shield Shin Bet head Ronen Bar from criticism and had nothing to do with matters of national security.
Gotliv knowingly violated a series of gag orders since taking office in late 2022, claiming that she had the right to do so as part of her parliamentary immunity. She is currently under criminal investigation for revealing in 2023 that the husband of Prof. Shikma Bressler, one of the leaders of the protests against the government’s judicial reforms, was a Shin Bet employee.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ben-Gvir wrote on X that the arrest was part of a wider conspiracy against him. He accused the PID of wiretapping journalists but did not provide proof.
אחרי שהנחו ״לאסוף חומרים״ נגדי כדי לעשות לי סיכול ממוקד, אחרי שריגלו נגד מפכ״ל המשטרה ונגד נציב שב״ס, אחרי שתפרו תיקים לקציני משטרה מצטיינים שכל חטאם שקיימו החוק ומדיניות השר, אחרי שתפרו ותופרים תיקים לרה״מ ואנשיו, אחרי ששיקרו לביהמ״ש - אחרי כל זה, מה זה עבור הפושעים להאזין…
— איתמר בן גביר (@itamarbengvir) April 15, 2025
The PID denied that this had occurred, and a spokesperson for Ben-Gvir did not respond to a clarification request.The Shin Bet issued a response on Tuesday afternoon.
“As part of the investigation, a Shin Bet employee is suspected of taking advantage of his security clearance and direct access to the Shin Bet’s information systems by having transferred classified information to unauthorized parties on multiple occasions and in a covert manner,” the Shin Bet said.
“Given the serious suspicion that a Shin Bet employee took classified information in a way that endangers security, an internal and necessary investigation was launched into the actions of the employee,” it continued.
“Following the investigation’s findings, the suspicion that the employee actively worked to extract classified materials deliberately from the organization’s information systems was substantiated. What did was contrary to the law and the binding rules upon the organization’s employees,” the Shin Bet said.
According to the agency, “This is a severe and unusual case where the scope of the information taken and delivered to unauthorized parties was initially unclear, necessitating immediate action to stop the information leak.”
“The Shin Bet emphasizes that at no stage were journalists investigated, required to provide testimonies, or subjected to phone surveillance as part of this investigation,” it added.
“It is also clarified that over the past year, during the war, there has been an increase in the phenomenon of leaking classified materials from security organizations and their information systems by employees of the security apparatus.
“Accordingly, over 20 cases of classified information leaks have been handled and investigated, aimed at preventing the leakage of classified information from the security system to unauthorized parties in a way that could endanger state security.
“The Shin Bet will continue to act resolutely and impartially to protect state secrets and the security of Israel’s citizens,” the agency said.