Top Security Scandal Unveiled
Ex-Shin Bet Chief Bombshell: "Netanyahu Tried to Spy on Mossad Head — and Take Down Bennett"
Yoram Cohen accuses Netanyahu of abusing Israel’s internal security service for political ends — including targeting Naftali Bennett with false claims
In a dramatic affidavit submitted to Israel’s High Court of Justice, former Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief Yoram Cohen has accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of attempting to misuse the country’s internal security service for personal and political purposes—including efforts to monitor Mossad leadership and strip political rival Naftali Bennett of his security clearance based on fabricated claims.
The sworn statement was filed as part of a petition by the Movement for Quality Government, and its contents are already reverberating throughout Israel’s legal and political arenas.
Cohen detailed a 2013 meeting in Netanyahu’s office in which the prime minister reportedly requested that the Shin Bet begin surveillance on all individuals privy to a sensitive military operation in an enemy state, including top intelligence officials from agencies such as the Mossad and Military Intelligence. Present at the meeting were then-Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein and the prime minister’s military secretary Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir.
“The Prime Minister said the operation’s secrecy was paramount, and any leak could cancel it and harm national security,” Cohen wrote. “He instructed that the Shin Bet monitor all those in the know—including heads of other agencies.”
Cohen strongly opposed the move, warning Netanyahu that using the Shin Bet’s anti-terror and counterespionage tools to monitor colleagues was inappropriate and without legal basis.
“Even if the concern is real, it is improper to use the Shin Bet’s intelligence capabilities to deter or monitor senior intelligence officials without specific suspicion,” Cohen told the court.
Eventually, Cohen said, a compromise was reached: the Defense Ministry’s security unit (Malmab) would oversee internal vetting, and Shin Bet involvement would occur only in specific, justified cases.
Netanyahu Targeted Bennett with False Claims
Cohen also revealed a separate incident in 2014, in which Netanyahu, in a one-on-one meeting, claimed that then-cabinet minister Naftali Bennett had been dismissed from the IDF’s elite Sayeret Matkal unit due to “credibility issues.” Netanyahu allegedly said such a person should not have access to classified cabinet information, and asked the Shin Bet chief to revoke Bennett’s security clearance.
“I immediately told the Prime Minister I would not do it—under any circumstances,” Cohen wrote.
Cohen said Netanyahu waved off the issue when challenged and ended the discussion abruptly. The claim about Bennett being kicked out of Sayeret Matkal later proved to be fabricated.
Political Weaponization of the Shin Bet?
In his affidavit, Cohen warned that Netanyahu’s actions illustrated a pattern of attempting to weaponize the Shin Bet for personal and political gain:
“This request demonstrates how the Prime Minister was willing to exploit the powers granted to the Shin Bet under Section 7(a) of the Security Services Law to serve his own interests—at odds with the agency’s national and professional mandate.”
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