Public Security Minister Omer Barlev unwittingly disclosed information that was under military censorship in an interview on Tuesday.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
Barlev, who was speaking about his military service ahead of Israel's Memorial Day, talked about one of his subordinates when he commanded the elite commando reconnaissance unit, Sayeret Matkal. "Barak Shar'abi was killed under my watch when I was the commander of the unit, somewhere deep inside Syrian territory," Bar-Lev told Israel Radio.
After it became clear that Barlev had accidentally shared classified information, the Military Censor's Office said it would lift the censorship on Shar'abi's name and the fact that he was in Syria when he got killed. Under what is publicly available, Sayeret Matkal encountered difficulties and suffered casualties during the classified operation and at some point, this required a complicated evacuation effort. Another eight soldiers were injured in the operation.
Initially, his parents were told that he died in a car accident, but then eventually the IDF informed them that he died in a sensitive operation behind enemy lines.
Barlev has come under heavy criticism in recent weeks after making a series of gaffes, including by stating falsehoods and tweeting ill-conceived tweets. This week he also said that the government handled the recent terrorism wave properly and that there were no Israelis killed over the past months, despite this not being the case.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
