Back in 2014, the IDF destroyed illegal building in the radical settlement of Yitzhar. Each time they arrived they were met with a pitched battle (Hebrew and English): a hail of rocks and curses. Six soldiers were lightly wounded. Their vehicles were vandalized. Even their own military outpost next door, which was built to protect the settlement, was trashed, destroying military equipment.
In the past few days, the answer may have become clearer. Cpl. Yitzhak Sela, an ultra-Orthodox settler, recruited to serve in the army via a new program designed to encourage Haredim into military service, was given access to highly secret military data. Sela, was appointed to the intelligence unit of the Etzion Brigade, knew in advance when police were going to arrest his fellow hooligans at how own settlement, Bay Ayin. They in turn could escape before the arresting officers arrived. Incredibly, some of the data he released concerned his own planned arrest (by Israeli police) for inciting anti-Palestinian violence in the area:
He is suspected of a number of instances of leaking information to his friends in Bat Ayin about the police’s plans to arrest him. Sela apparently gained access to the information because all police activity in the region goes through the Etzion Brigade, at one of whose bases he was stationed.
Two of Sela’s friends were interrogated and Haaretz learned that one of them confirmed he had received information from Sela.
Sela is also suspected of leaking information about operations by the Judea and Samaria police district, as well as the movement of forces and the activities of the police unit in charge of far-right political crimes.
Sela is suspected of using the army’s computers to search for information involving him, as well as information about members of the Shin Bet security service unit that investigates Jewish suspects, regarding a probe into the throwing of an incendiary device near Bat Ayin in which a Palestinian family was injured in August 2012, and into an arson attack on a mosque in the village of Jab’a, near Bat Ayin, in February…
Because Sela’s search involved seeking information about Shin Bet operatives, he is suspected of exceeding his authority and, the Shin Bet will attempt to show, of endangering state security.
Think about this: a radical settler suspected of violence against Palestinians is invited into the army, given a privileged intelligence position which he can use to protect himself and his fellow hooligan friends. In the course of his army adventures, he even blows the cover of Shin Bet agents possibly working undercover within the settlements to stem such violence.
While it’s understandable why it would be useful from an intelligence perspective to coordinate activities and share information between the IDF and Shabak, it’s not clear why there would be no impediment for such a low-level figure as Sela to be able to read 15,000 sensitive documents as he did, without hindrance. Why was there no compartmentalization of such data so that only those who needed it could access it?
Now add this new development into the mix: according to Nana, Sela didn’t even have a security clearance. In normal circumstances, a soldier who is a candidate for a intelligence job will be vetted by the Shin Bet. They fill out a questionnaire and receive an interview. Then they are given a security clearance that enables them to see classified material. None of that happened with Sela.
Which means one of two things: either the commanders of the Etzion Brigade engaged in a major fashla (“fuck-up” in idiomatic Hebrew derived from Arabic) or someone in position of authority deliberately placed Sela in this role knowing what he would do and wanting him to do it. In other words, the army itself wanted to sabotage its own mission of controlling settler extremism and violence.
Even if we prefer the fashla option, it’s hardly less troubling in terms of testifying to IDF dysfunction. There are ample other examples of major security lapses (most of which are either covered up or ignored). In the case of Anat Kamm, a woman working in the brigade commander’s office had access to classified material in an army computer and was able to copy thousands of pages of documents onto a thumb drive. The officer responsible for such lax security? Yair Naveh, who was afterward promoted to the second highest position in the IDF. How’s that for rewarding a soldier for his incompetence?
Sedki al Maket revealed through his Facebook “spy posts” that the IDF left open doors and gates in the fence separating Israeli and Syrian-held Golan. Such laxness allowed al Nusra rebels allied with Israel to cross into Israeli-occuped territory. But it could just as easily allowed Hezbollah fighters to gain easy access to the Israeli-side of the armistice line.
Did facebook just remove Sedki al Maket personal page?
@ Tankist: No, it’s available here: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004834601879
Next time, publish a comment about al Maket in the thread for the post about him and not the most recent post on the main page which has nothing to do with him. It allows people to understand better what you’re commenting on. This is why staying on-topic is important.
Noted!
Thanks for the link
It would seem plausible that this episode reflects the corruption of these military services, not just incompetence. Perhaps this guy was placed as a result of some payoff or other? So much of Israeli politics appears corrupted, such a thing seems likely, not just possible.
In case you haven’t heard of it, I wanted to bring to your attention an event which occurred in Britain today. Lord Greville Janner has been excused of facing the law on accusations of Pedophilia, as he is said to have advanced Alzheimers. No doubt he will recover miraculously shortly in the future.
Lord Greville Janner is/was a leading member of the Board of Deputies of British Jews. No doubt, if he were permitted to testify, he might reveal details that might not go well for Israel.
So he has been shut up.
He’s 86 years old and suffered years from dementia. He would have no access to any secrets about Israel. The British board of deputies is an impotent nothing that knows and does nothing.
Your comment is irrelevant and based on ignorance.
Many British Jews know & say otherwise. Many of them, who are progressive, wish what you say were so. But alas, it’s not. The Board of Deputies & corollary Lobby groups like Bicom have a monopoly on communal power that is stifling & counter-productive.
Evil, powerful Jews. Cover ups. Israel state secrets.
What’s next Laguerre?
You are appalled about Sela. Poor guy is now sitting in military prison awaiting trial. However, when Anat Kam used her military clearance to reveal secrets which endangered the security of Israel she sat at home under “house arrest.” Seems there is a double standard in Israel.
Anat Kamm exposed Israeli war crimes. Sela exposed the identity of Shabak agents & gave hooligans impunity. There’s a difference.
Double standard? Not at all.
Anat kamm was at first in custody for quite a while before being released to house arrest.
She didn’t endanger the security like this sela may have none, she revealed that the army broke the law. Sela allegedly has directly caused soldiers to be injured.
@ Shmuel: Bravo! I think this is the 2nd or possibly 3rd time we’ve agreed on something!
“al Nusra rebels allied with Israel…”
What is that about? Last time I checked, al Nusra was a branch of al Qaeda (link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Nusra_Front)
Al Nusra is ideologically-affiliated with al Qaeda. It is allied with Israel, which provides it with military and medical aid. Al Nusra can walk & chew gum at the same time!
Not a mote of evidence that Israel has given al Nusra military aid.
UN reports say precisely this. Al Maket’s Facebook postings say precisely this. You will withdraw this claim or be moderated for knowingly lying.
“‘The first outcomes of the cooperation between the Israeli army and the gunmen took place in Quneitra, when they took control over the border crossing. Back then, Israel supported gunmen by providing them with cover under the pretext of ‘shooting back,’ hindering any attempts by the Syrian air force to intervene and bringing down one of our planes. It has also provided gunmen with the necessary equipment to face the fortifications of the Syrian army.’”
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/01/syria-opposition-daraa-israel-communication-nusra.html
Since this is the 2nd false claim you’ve made in a comment today, I’ve decided to moderate you. If you withdraw both claims & acknowledge the evidence disputing your claims & do not raise them again, then I will remove moderation. But the next time you publish any claim that isn’t bolstered by definitive & credible evidence (from a credible source), I will moderate you permanently.
‘The first outcomes of the cooperation between the Israeli army and the gunmen took place in Quneitra, when they took control over the border crossing. Back then, Israel supported gunmen by providing them with cover under the pretext of ‘shooting back,’ hindering any attempts by the Syrian air force to intervene and bringing down one of our planes. It has also provided gunmen with the necessary equipment to face the fortifications of the Syrian army.’”
Yeah. You omit to tell us that this quote is attributed to Gen. Rami al-Hasan, the head of the Syrian government forces in Quneitra governorate.
Go moderate a fart.
@ Hefe: Now you’re banned.
How long do readers think it will take before a new hasbara flight lands here from Ben Gurion?? (in joke)
Mr. Silverstein.
To be fair, Al Monitor’s founder and owner is a Tartous (Alawite?) born Syrian nationalist who often shills for the Syrian Government of Bashar al Assad.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Business/Lebanon/2011/Aug-26/147204-syrian-american-acquires-stake-in-as-safir.ashx#axzz2JrYgzTcM
http://www.thetower.org/controversy-strikes-middle-east-news-outlet-over-assad-hezbollah-coverage/
http://tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/134557/al-monitor-middle-east
Richard wrote: “ In other words, the army itself wanted to sabotage its own mission of controlling settler extremism and violence.”
So who will control them? Shin Bet seems to operate in a similar fashion. One example: in 2010 Shin Bet arrested Chaim Pearlman, an extremist settler who was accused of murdering at least four Palestinians. To fight back Pearlman released a tape of a conversation he had with an undercover agent of Shin Bet.
“The agent, who befriended Pearlman and was known as “Dada”, can be heard exhorting him both to go to an “Arab village” to “turn it into a fireworks display” and to execute Sheikh Raed Salah, a leader of the Islamic Movement and a recent participant in the aid flotilla to Gaza that was attacked by Israel.
…
The Shin Bet have also been cornered into admitting that they recruited Pearlman as an agent in 2000, in the midst of his alleged stabbing spree, despite the fact that he was a known member of Kach, an outlawed group calling for the expulsion of Palestinians from “Greater Israel”. He later chose to leave the Shin Bet.
Abir Baker, a lawyer with Adalah, a legal centre that handles Palestinian security cases, said: … “Many members of the Shin Bet are settlers themselves and think of these extremists as their colleagues, not as the enemy. The line between the Shin Bet and these extremist organisations is very blurred.”
…
Unlike in the case of Palestinian attacks on Israelis, attacks by Jews on Palestinians are rarely solved, leading to criticisms that the Shin Bet is not serious about tackling the problem of “Jewish terror”.
Amir Oren, a security analyst for the liberal Haaretz newspaper, accused the Shin Bet of having “chains on its feet and weights around its neck” when it investigated such cases.” “
Read more:
Sorry. Here is the reference:
http://www.jonathan-cook.net/2010-07-27/settlers-wage-vendetta-on-shin-bet-israels-secret-police-exposed/
At the latest Iranian military parade a sign draped on a rocket says:
مرک براسرايل
=death to israel, not regime but israel.
So all your claims that Iran does not want to destroy Israel are vapid!
You want to be a real scholar learn Fars & Arabic!
@ amir Boulian: Happens every year. Someone posted a comment about the same thing here a year or two ago. You’re late to the party, bud. Not to mention you picked this up from one of the right-wing rags that specializes in this s(^t.
So someone put a slogan on a fake missile. Big deal. Do you think the guy who wrote this slogan is making Iran’s strategic military decisions?
This sounds to me like an MeK supporter. Are you?
I read Fars & Arabic and I do not know what MeK is.
You can twist anything & always do שקר אין לו רגלים
@ Amir Boulian: Ah, so an Israeli-Iranian. Now we’ve got you pegged. A pal of Meirke (Javedanfar) no doubt. BTW, accusing me of lying will get you bounced here. Try it again & you’re toast.
I am not any of the things you may surmise. I am not an Israeli but an academic with a doctorate in MIddle East studies. Just look at my IP address as I write out of NY city.
@ amir boulian: You’re likely a liar. Unless you’re using a fake name, your name doesn’t even appear in Google searches. Your e mail address is associated in a Google search with a different name, Amir Buzo.
Something about you is a fake. Maybe everything.