Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Shin Bet chief David Zini to investigate the leak to Channel 12 of the planned start time of Israel’s war with Iran, according to a report in Haaretz. As far as is known, the Shin Bet has not yet decided how to respond to the request, and both the agency and the Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment.
Since the war began at the end of February, Channel 14 commentator and presenter Yaakov Bardugo has repeatedly demanded an inquiry into how Channel 12 learned that Israel would strike Iran on a Saturday morning. Bardugo said, “I wonder which state, military, or Mossad official was so eager to brief Channel 12,” adding, “At 08:16, Yonit Levi was already in the studio, made up, together with Nir Dvori.” Channel 14 also quoted Netanyahu as calling it a “criminal leak” that endangered the success of the operation.
After Bardugo called for the leak to be investigated, Defense Minister Israel Katz said he had ordered the security division in the Defense Ministry to handle the matter, and that division forwarded the request to the Shin Bet. The service has not yet contacted Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, whose approval is required for investigations of journalists.
A senior law-enforcement official told Haaretz that the chances of identifying the leaker are “zero,” since at least thousands of people knew the information, and warned that such a probe could threaten press freedom. The official also said there was concern that someone in the Shin Bet could act to satisfy the political echelon. Last week, Bardugo attacked Zini on Channel 14, saying he had failed to investigate the leak and warning that Channel 12 was continuing to do it.
