Deputy minister accused of exposing Shin Bet agent in Oct. 7 intelligence warning

Opposition demands investigating Almog Cohen for violating censorship laws and endangering the security of the state.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The Opposition on Wednesday demanded a criminal investigation into Deputy Minister Almog Cohen (Otzma Yehudit), accusing him of violating censorship laws by publicly outing a General Security Service (Shin Bet) agent from the Knesset podium.

In a letter to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, Opposition coordinator Meirav Ben Ari (Yesh Atid) wrote that Cohen’s remarks raised “serious suspicion” of disclosing classified security information, “including identifying details about a Shin Bet agent and his mode of activity.”

Such information, she noted, has been barred from publication for months due to the “serious risk involved” in revealing the identity of the agent and what he does, she added.

According to Ben Ari, Cohen acted deliberately and caused “real harm to state security, the safety of the agent, and the ability of the security services to carry out their duties.”

The deputy minister’s parliamentary immunity should not protect him in such a case, she added.

Cohen made the remarks earlier Wednesday while speaking in support of legislation to establish a special “National State Investigation Committee” to probe Israel’s failure to prevent the Hamas-led massacre of Oct. 7, 2023, which sparked a two-year war in Gaza.

From the Knesset podium, Cohen accused outgoing Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar of failing to act on critical intelligence.

Bar, he said, “gathered all department heads at 3:30 a.m.” – three hours before the attack – because “there was an agent in the Gaza Strip, called ‘the Green Sardine,’ who phoned his handler and told him that there was a gathering of Nukhba terrorists in the mosques.”

Cohen emphasized that the earliest prayer time that day was at around 5:15 a.m., suggesting the meeting was suspicious and should have triggered immediate action.

“Why didn’t anyone pass on this information to [the government]?” he said. “Why did [people] have to die in the streets?”

Bar has been among the senior political and security figures calling for a formal state commission of inquiry, arguing that only such a body can fully uncover the failures that led to Oct. 7.

The government opposes that model, contending that a traditional state commission, which is appointed by the president of the Supreme Court, who is seen as a leftist, would lack public trust and reflect a political bias.

Instead, the coalition-backed bill, which passed its preliminary reading on Wednesday, would establish a committee with equal representation from both sides of the political spectrum, any two of whom can compel a line of inquiry.

The bill’s sponsors argue that this structure would ensure a comprehensive investigation of all branches of government, the IDF and security services.

The Opposition has vowed to boycott the proposed committee, insisting it would serve to shield those in power on Oct. 7 from accountability.