OCCUPIED AL-QUDS: Israel´s attorney general on Sunday opposed the appointment of the next head of the Mossad spy agency, due to take office in June, in a letter to the Supreme Court shared with the Israeli media.
The court is due to hear multiple petitions against the appointment of Major General Roman Gofman in the coming days.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara´s opposition centres on a case dating back to 2022, in which she says Gofman did nothing to exonerate a teenager arrested for espionage who had in fact been secretly recruited by the military at Gofman´s request.
Gofman was a military commander on Israel´s northern border at the time.
According to the attorney general´s letter, army officers acting “at Gofman´s request” recruited 17-year-old Uri Elmakiyes outside any legal framework to conduct “information gathering and influence” operations online with citizens of enemy countries, mainly Syria.
Unaware that the teenager was acting on behalf of the military, the Shin Bet internal security agency arrested and detained him in isolation for nearly two months before moving him to house arrest for over a year.
Prosecutors eventually dropped all charges against Elmakiyes, following an investigation. He is among those petitioning the Supreme Court against the appointment.
