IAF officer charged over betting on strikes

Unlike the previous case, however, this officer is charged solely with breach of trust rather than more severe security offenses.

By Eliana Fleming, Kikar Hashabbat via JFeed

A second Israeli Air Force officer is facing criminal charges in an expanding betting scandal: a lieutenant colonel has been summoned for a hearing before indictment on charges of breach of trust, accused of placing bets on military strikes against Iran and Yemen using inside information.

According to a report Sunday evening on Israel’s Channel 12 News, this marks another case in the Air Force betting affair involving Polymarket, a cryptocurrency-based prediction market platform.

Unlike the previous case, however, this officer is charged solely with breach of trust rather than more severe security offenses.

This is not the first such incident. In February, another Air Force officer was indicted on serious security violations.

He was held in detention for several months before being released under restrictive conditions.

The February indictment stated that the officer violated basic confidentiality obligations and was willing to “sell” highly classified security information for financial gain.

According to the charges, his actions posed a real danger to Air Force pilots and the operational activities of the Israel Defense Forces, while betraying the trust placed in him as part of his role.

That officer, who served in a particularly sensitive position, exploited his status and unlimited access to classified information to pass security intelligence to external parties.

According to the investigation, the information transferred included details about operational capabilities, base locations, and aircraft activity, information that in hostile hands could have endangered lives.