Minister decries 'attempt to thwart the will of the voter'

AG says High Court should strike down Gofman’s appointment as next Mossad director

Baharav-Miara says appointments panel process was flawed since members did not review the dissenting opinion, were kept from seeing documents on Gofman’s use of minor for military op

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on Sunday told the High Court of Justice that she opposed the appointment of Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman as the next director of the Mossad intelligence agency, and urged it to be canceled as it “suffers from extreme and glaring unreasonableness.”

Gofman, who has been serving as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s military secretary, was approved last month after the Senior Appointments Advisory Committee gave the green light for his appointment.

However, in a lengthy filing to the court, which is hearing petitions on the matter, Baharav-Miara pointed to three flaws in the committee’s ruling: she said the three members who supported Gofman’s appointment did so before reviewing the dissenting opinion of committee head Asher Grunis; the two members were kept from seeing classified documents; and that Ori Elmakayes, a man who was used by Gofman when he was a minor for a so-called influence operation, was not allowed to appear before the committee.

Elmakayes and Telem–the Movement for Integrity in Government filed the petitions, focused on Gofman’s authorization in 2022, while commanding the IDF’s 210th “Bashan” Regional Division in the Golan Heights, to use Elmakayes, then aged 17, in an Arabic-language influence campaign.

As a result of Gofman’s actions, Elmakayes was detained and interrogated by the Shin Bet domestic security agency, held in isolation for two months, charged with espionage offenses, and jailed for 18 months before the charges were dropped.

Gofman has claimed he did not know how old Elmakayes was, and that he had ordered that only non-classified information be given to him for publication on social media.

But Baharav-Miara asserted that according to the evidence, “Gofman was aware of the operation involving Elmakayes” and of his detention.

“The committee did not conduct a sufficient or exhaustive factual inquiry,” wrote Baharav-Miara, “and its decision appears to be deficient in a manner that undermines the integrity-related aspects of the matter, including the prime minister’s ability to rely upon it in deciding to appoint Gofman as head of the Mossad.”

This alone, she said, “is enough to justify canceling the prime minister’s decision that is the subject of the petitions.”

“In light of all the above, and based on the classified materials,” she wrote, “the attorney general’s position is that the case involves integrity defects that go to the root of the appointment to the position of head of the Mossad and that were not given the required weight in the decision to appoint Gofman.”

“The Elmakayes affair casts a heavy shadow over Gofman’s integrity and, by extension, over his appointment to the position of head of the Mossad. The implication, therefore, is that the prime minister’s decision to appoint Gofman suffers from extreme and glaring unreasonableness, cannot stand legally, and must be annulled,” she stated.

“The court has no choice but to intervene in the prime minister’s decision regarding Gofman’s appointment as director of the Mossad and to accept the petitions,” Baharav-Miara wrote.

She said that the current Mossad chief, David Barnea, sent a confidential letter to be forwarded to the court related to the petitions. The document laid out the uniqueness of the organization, which is relevant to the manner in which the committee examines the issue of a candidate’s integrity, she said.

According to the Ynet news site, Barnea’s confidential written opinion stated that the head of the Mossad must have an impeccable record due to the sensitivity of its operations overseas, and the fact that they report directly to the prime minister. He viewed Gofman’s handling of Elmakayes as a serious issue, the report said.

The attorney general’s position was condemned by coalition members.

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi accused Baharav-Miara of a “systematic attempt to thwart the will of the voter, paralyze the government’s work, and empty Israeli democracy of its substance.”

“If the High Court dares again to cancel a legal government decision, whether regarding the attorney general or the appointment of Gofman as head of the Mossad, the government must not surrender. An illegal order is not above the will of the people and is not above the law,” Karhi said on X.

“Surprised? Only because of political opposition is Gali allowed to deviate from every legal norm,” Education Minister Yoav Kisch wrote in a social media post.

The coalition has repeatedly accused Bahrav-Miara of working against the government and undermining its interests. Baharav-Miara has opposed several of the government’s signature legislative initiatives, including its controversial proposed judicial overhaul, and has refused to defend the government in proceedings in the High Court of Justice against some of its policies and legislation. The cabinet voted unanimously last year to fire Baharav-Miara, though the High Court then annulled the move.

Speaking to Kan public radio, Gofman’s lawyer Ohad Shalem claimed that Baharav-Miara had defended the appointments committee in the past, and now was “suddenly attacking it” and “undermining its work.”

“She can’t criticize its integrity; she is not on the committee,” he added. “There is no meaning to the opinion of a minority in the committee and the position of David Barnea. The person who appoints is the prime minister.”

In his position submitted to the High Court on Friday, Netanyahu argued that Gofman’s appointment was a security decision and therefore should be generally exempt from judicial oversight.

Gofman is meant to replace Barnea in Jube, when his five-year term is set to end. The nomination has drawn criticism from current and former security officials, who have told Hebrew media that Gofman lacks the operational and intelligence background traditionally required to lead the security agency.

During the October 7, 2023, onslaught, while serving as the commander of the Tzeelim training base, Gofman rushed to the Gaza border and was seriously wounded while battling Hamas-led terrorists in a firefight at Sha’ar Hanegev Junction just outside of Sderot.

He is considered close to Netanyahu, having served as his military secretary for nearly two years. During that time, Gofman traveled on the premier’s behalf for various tasks and oversaw the implementation of the prime minister’s directives in the IDF.

Gofman was also interviewed by the police’s Lahav 433 national crimes unit in February to give open testimony regarding allegations that Netanyahu’s chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman, said he could quash a military investigation into the leak of a classified document to the German Bild newspaper.

The police reportedly believe that Braverman received the information about the military investigation during the course of his work as Netanyahu’s chief of staff, and unlawfully informed one of the subjects of investigation, Netanyahu’s media advisor Eli Feldstein, that he was being investigated.