Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “the military should not interfere in political matters” and “praised” the response of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, to the military’s chief spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, after his criticism of the so-called “Feldstein Law.”
“It is good that the spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces has been put in his place to ensure that such a statement is not heard again,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
“In a democratic country, the military is not supposed to interfere in political matters and certainly not to criticize legislation,” he continued.
The Feldstein Act is a bill to allow members of the military and intelligence services to leak classified documents to the prime minister or defense minister without authorization.
“The army does not hide information from the political leadership. The army works in concert with the political leadership to defend Israel,” Hagari said earlier during a press conference, calling the bill, which passed its first vote (out of three) in parliament, “dangerous” for state security.
The so-called Feldstein law comes amid a legal battle over the BibiLeaks case, in which Eli Feldstein, a Netanyahu spokesman, and a reserve non-commissioned officer are accused of conspiring to leak a classified document to the foreign press to sway public opinion against a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
According to Hagari, the document in question was accessible to Netanyahu and his office, and was removed from the army in violation of military censor guidelines.
Following his remarks, the IDF released a message saying that the chief of staff reprimanded Hagari for “exceeding his authority.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz went further, saying in a statement that he hopes to take disciplinary action against Hagari as soon as possible.
The lawmakers behind the bill (both from the prime minister's Likud party) argue that the measure is necessary because, even during the war, several key intelligence reports have not reached the hands of Netanyahu or his ministers. EFE and Aurora
Netanyahu to IDF spokesman: “The military must not interfere in political matters”
Daniel Hagari Photo: Israel Defense Forces
The military is APOLITICAL, not deliberative. Since the beginning of the NETANYAHU government they want to overthrow him. From the outside it looks better.
They are distorting the spirit of a military norm and a foundation of democracy.
It is quite true that in well-functioning democracies the military should not interfere in political affairs. We have seen many examples, they usually start like this and end in military coups establishing dictatorships.
But this time, that is not the case. We are talking about laws that harm military action, so it is only fair that a soldier has to call attention and say “this is dangerous for security”, “this harms military action by exposing what could be a secret military action”, “now it will be very easy for our military secrets to reach the enemy”.
This law, if they insist on passing it, should clearly explain in which cases it is not a crime, but even more clearly in which cases it is considered a crime.
In short, it should only be relevant when the military officer who discloses a military secret bases his claim on the fact that the military secret is part of a political and not a military maneuver. In addition, he should only disclose the secret to a specific government official specified by law, not to anyone.
If the law does not contemplate all this, this law goes against the democratic foundations of the nation, and is formulated solely to serve the current Prime Minister in his struggle to strengthen his government (Executive Branch) to the detriment of the division of powers and the balance that currently exists between the Executive Branch and the Judiciary.
In short, PRO BIBI LAW.
The military should not intervene in politics, but the religious should. How interesting.