Netanyahu staff ordered to illegally shred documents in final hours, report says

Prime Minister’s Office is looking into the matter as Netanyahu spokesman calls reports a “total lie.”

By World Israel News Staff

Benjamin Netanyahu allegedly ordered staffers to shred documents in the Prime Minister’s office during his final hours in office.

Sources in the Prime Minister’s Office told Haaretz that the documents were kept in safes in an inner sanctum area known as “the aquarium,” where Netanyahu and his senior aids worked. It wasn’t clear how many documents were destroyed or what they pertained to.

By law, all government documents are deemed state property and must be labeled and archived.

According to Haaretz, documents kept in the aquarium were usually senior officials’ schedules and documents related to their work, as well as other unspecified material.

Reports say most of the office’s documents were transferred to prime ministerial archives for the use of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and his staff.

A spokesman for Netanyahu called the allegations, “a total lie,” saying, “No such thing ever happened.”

The Prime Minister’s Office told Haaretz it was “unfamiliar with this issue,” but promised to look into the matter.