The government of Israel has refuted allegations made in papers that were reportedly stolen from the Pentagon that officials of Israel’s foreign intelligence service, Mossad, had sponsored widespread rallies against a proposed revamp of Israel’s judicial system. The New York Times released an analysis on Saturday that it ascribed to a central intelligence update from March 1 which stated that Mossad leadership had pushed its workers as well as Israeli civilians to participate in the large rallies.
According to the publication, just because the documents that were released appeared to be legitimate does not guarantee that they are correct. In a statement released on Sunday, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the study “mendacious and without any substance whatsoever.” “The Mossad and its top officers did not – and do not – encourage agency staff to join the rallies against the government, political demonstrations, or other political action,” it stated. Since his coalition of hard-right and religious parties came to power at the end of last year, Netanyahu’s ambitions for a judicial makeover have not only created anxiety among Israel’s Western partners, but they have also provoked unprecedented popular discontent. The law that is being suggested would give parliament the ability to control judge selections and overrule decisions made by the Supreme Court.
Late in March, after weeks of increasingly heated protests, Netanyahu caved in and announced that he would postpone the contentious measures in order to make room for negotiations with opposition parties. On Friday, the United States Department of Justice issued a statement indicating that it was in communication with the Department of Defense and that it had initiated an inquiry into the suspected leak of the papers, which cover a variety of topics relevant to national security. It declined to comment further.