Netanyahu Ships Staff Accused of Criminal Acts Overseas

פרסום ראשון: בין השינויים שנתניהו תכנן – העברת ראש הסגל צחי ברוורמן לתפקיד השגריר בלונדון, מינוי מנכ״ל משרד רה”מ יוסי שלי לשגריר באמירויות ושינוי תפקידו של מזכיר הממשלה יוסי פוקס#בוקר_טוב_ישראל @Segev_Yuval @efitriger pic.twitter.com/3YJRLRl2DE

— גלצ (@GLZRadio) November 7, 2024

Israeli media reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu is cleaning house within the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) by shipping key personnel overseas. He has appointed three senior aides to diplomatic posts. The director general, Yossi Sheli has been appointed ambassador to United Arab Emirates, one of the Abraham Accord signatories.  Chief of staff Tzahi Braverman, will assume a post at the embassy in Brazil and cabinet secretary, Yossi Fox, will be transferred to a different role.

In doing so, he will remove them from impending scandals and place them out of reach of Israeli police investigating them.  This will not only prevent their testimony, it will insulate him personally and remove any culpability on his part.

All three have played prominent roles in two separate criminal scandals confronting Netanyahu. The first is Bibi Files, involving a network of military intelligence officers who stole top secret Hamas materials and transferred them to the PMO, from which they were leaked to foreign media.  Braverman was questioned by police regarding his role in this affair.  Sheli, as overall top official in the PMO certainly played a role in orchestrating this operations.

The second scandal involves the doctoring of cabinet transcripts and updates on Israeli government military-intelligence deliberations. At one time, two opposition leaders, Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot (both former chiefs of staff) joined a unity government. However, they quit when their positions were ignored by Netanyahu, who refused to negotiate an end to hostilities and release of Israeli hostages.  In addition, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant opposed the “forever war” approach the prime minister advocated. He was fired yesterday as the leading figure opposing him within the cabinet.

Police investigating the Protocols case raided the PMO itself to collect evidence, an unprecedented invasion of the political home of the prime minister. His Shin Bet security chief refused them entry initially claiming they had no authority to enter the premises.  Eventually, he was forced to relent.

One of the reasons for the forced entry was a 2001 incident in which Netanyahu removed top-secret documents from the PMO after he was toppled as prime minister.  They didn’t want to give him any opportunity to repeat that behavior.

The falsification of the cabinet minutes and transcript offered a sanitized version of these deliberations which softened the contentious division within the security cabinet.  This was critical for the post-war period, when pressure will mount for a formal commission of inquiry into the 10/7 debacle.  Netanyahu knows the public will demand accountability for those military, intelligence and political figures who permitted this debacle.  There will be demands for all of them to resign. In Bibi’s case, this would topple his government and lead to new elections. The latest poll shows his Likud Party would lose 25% of its seats in the Knesset, a precipitous drop.  Though it would remain the largest bloc in parliament, it might not be able to cobble together a new government coalition.  In addition, Netanyahu himself is extremely unpopular. A Spring 2024 poll showed a 58% disapproval rating.  Elements within his own party might rise against him, though they’re hesitated to do so in the past.

He also faces four corruption charges which have been held in abeyance during the war.  They could be reactivated if hostilities ended. A conviction on any of them would force his resignation. That could also mean a prison sentence, that would likely end his political career. Netanyahu is a malignant narcissist who believes that the country can only survive with him at the helm.  He will do anything to remain in power.