Israeli PM files complaint against ex-chief of internal security agency as tensions simmer

Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu filed a complaint with the police against the former chief of the Israel Security Agency (ISA), Nadav Argaman, according to Israel’s state-owned Kan TV News.

Netanyahu’s attorney claimed in a letter to Israeli police chief Daniel Levi on Friday that Argaman was attempting to extort him “with methods used by criminal organizations,” based on remarks Argaman made during a television interview on Thursday night.

In the interview, Argaman said that if he concluded the prime minister was acting unlawfully, he would reveal everything he knew, though he had refrained from saying these things “to keep the importance of the relationship between the ISA chief and the prime minister.”

He added that any information threatening Israel’s national security would be shared according to law, Xinhua news agency reported.

In the complaint, Netanyahu claimed that “all red lines were crossed when Argaman chose to threaten and to blackmail a sitting prime minister with threats, using methods and forms common to criminal organizations, as if the head of Israel’s intelligence service were a mafia man, using practices from the criminal world and completely crossing the lines.”

On Thursday, after the interview was broadcast, Netanyahu claimed in a statement that “this crime joins a whole campaign of extortion with threats through media briefings in recent days, conducted by the current ISA chief Ronen Bar.”

“The sole goal is to try to prevent me from making the decisions necessary to rehabilitate the ISA after its searing failure on October 7. Let it be clear: the criminal threats in the mafia style will not deter me. I will do what is necessary to ensure Israel’s security,” said Netanyahu in the statement.

The ISA responded in a statement that the accusations against Bar were baseless, with the current ISA chief focusing solely on national security and efforts to bring home the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza while safeguarding democracy.

Following the complaint, Israeli police said that Levi had instructed the head of the investigation and intelligence department to examine Argaman’s statement.

Tensions between Netanyahu and the ISA have escalated since the Hamas surprise attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

Disputes have arisen over handling the conflict, negotiations for hostage release, leaks of classified documents, and investigations into private business connections between employees at the prime minister’s office and the Qatari government.

Netanyahu’s critics claim his decisions are driven by political survival, while his allies argue that the ISA is interfering in his decisions and attempting a coup.

–IANS