© Jack Guez/AFP/Getty ImagesIsraeli military veterans rally last month against the government's judicial reform bill.
The leaked document labeled top secret says that in February, senior leaders of the Mossad spy service "advocated for Mossad officials and Israeli citizens to protest the new Israeli Government's proposed judicial reforms, including several explicit calls to action that decried the Israeli Government, according to signals intelligence."
By itself, the direct intervention into Israeli politics by Mossad, an external spy service forbidden from wading into domestic matters, would be a significant revelation. That the information surfaced as a result, apparently, of U.S. espionage on its closest Middle East ally could further inflame what has been a time of historic political unrest in Israel.
"If accurate, this is dramatic change in procedure by Mossad's leadership and puts Israel in unprecedented territory," said Natan Sachs, an Israel scholar at the Brookings Institution. "It's a sign of just how far the Netanyahu coalition has pushed Israeli society and how high the stakes are."
The memo is among the dozens of images leaked online, and subsequently obtained by The Washington Post and other news outlets, appearing to show worldwide intelligence briefings on countries in the Middle East, Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa, tactical-level battlefield updates and assessments of Ukraine's defense capabilities, and much more. Information in the documents, dating to late February and early March, appears to have been prepared for senior Pentagon leaders and made available to hundreds of other personnel and contract employees with appropriate security clearances.
The National Security Council, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the State Department all declined to comment on the memo related to Israel. The Israeli government also declined to comment. Defense Department spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said Friday that the leak is under review. The Justice Department said it has opened an investigation.
The embarrassing disclosure comes at a time of domestic tumult in Israel, as Netanyahu's government, the most right-wing and religiously conservative in its history, faces crises on multiple fronts. The new administration's controversial plan to weaken the country's Supreme Court has divided society, brought hundreds of thousands out onto the streets, and caused fractures in the military by inspiring hundreds of reservists to declare they would not serve. Israeli diplomats joined the strikes and, for a day, scores of Israeli embassies around the world were shuttered.
Comment: Since this was a planned operation, is it really accurate to say the reservists were 'inspired'? Or would it be more accurate to say they were encouraged, or at least manipulated?
But, at least in public, opposition came mainly from the grass roots or retired officials, as serving lawmakers and security figures stood supportive or tight lipped. The only major figure to break ranks, defense minister Yoav Gallant, himself under pressure from former military colleagues, did so in late March. The following day, Netanyahu announced Gallant was fired, although he still remains in office.
By contrast, Mossad, whose chief David Barnea was installed by Netanyahu, has been publicly silent on the reforms.
The measures under consideration could have a dramatic impact on Israeli society. Many of the country's thorniest issues — among them the rights of Palestinians, matters of religion and state, and minority civil rights — end up being adjudicated in Israel's courts. The proposed reforms would hand Israel's parliament control over judicial appointments, eliminate judicial review of legislation and allow lawmakers to vote down Supreme Court decisions.
Despite the high stakes, undermining the agenda of a sitting prime minister would be a dramatic step for the Mossad leadership to take. "If they were organizing against Netanyahu's reforms in their official capacity, then it's a true scandal," said Sachs. "That's a line the Mossad is not supposed to cross and you could expect repercussions."
The memo is light on details, and it is unclear who in the Mossad leadership advocated for rank-and-file spies as well as civilians to "protest" Netanyahu's reforms. Efforts by Mossad leaders to encourage the demonstrations occurred in "early to mid-February," the leaked document says. The information is labeled FISA, meaning the collection of the intelligence required approval from a federal judge as established under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Washington's role in exposing Mossad's concerns about the reforms could draw the fire of Israeli conservatives, some of whom have already accused the United States of secretly fomenting the protests — charges Washington flatly denies.
Comment: Well, it is Washington who is 'exposing' it, and blaming it on Mossad, so one wonders just how much benefit these protest confer to the US. Note that SOTT called this out as a color revolution attempt at least 2 weeks ago, with the following comment: 'one particular organization [involved in the protests] is funded by the US State Department...'
Last month, Netanyahu's son Yair claimed the U.S. State Department was "behind the protests in Israel, with the aim of overthrowing Netanyahu, apparently in order to conclude an agreement with the Iranians."
State Department spokesman Vedant Patel denied the charge, saying "any notion that we are propping up or supporting these protests or the initiators of them is completely and demonstrably false."
Sachs said any U.S. espionage role in intercepting the communications of Mossad leaders "could give fodder to some on the right pushing back against the Biden administration's concern over the judicial revolution."
Mossad's alleged opposition to the reforms won't surprise some, however, given the opposition to the measures — or their political impact — within Israel's national security establishment.
In late March, Gallant, the defense minister, made a televised statement calling for a freeze in the legislation, arguing that it was harming the country's ability to defend itself. "The rift within our society is widening and penetrating the Israel Defense Forces," he said. "This is a clear and immediate and tangible danger to the security of the state. I shall not be a party to this."
Avi Dichter, the agriculture minister and a former head of domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet, has also privately expressed concerns about its impact on national cohesion, Israeli news station Channel 12 reported.
As protesters announced rallies Saturday for a fourteenth consecutive week, former defense minister and IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon was among the announced speakers.
"The Israeli government has failed in every area," protest leaders wrote in a message circulated via WhatsApp, "and instead of focusing on security, senior ministers announced their intention to pass the judicial coup at the end of the Knesset recess."
‘WOODA’