The committee on senior appointments published its decision regarding the appointment of Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman as the next Director of the Mossad. As first reported by Israel Hayom, the committee ruled by majority vote that there was no obstacle to approving the appointment, though chairman former Supreme Court President Asher Grunis remained in the minority.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir also backed the appointment, saying Gofman "had a distinguished military career" and should be promoted to the most senior positions, possibly even to chief of staff in the future.
In his opinion, Grunis wrote that "in light of flaws in terms of integrity" for which Gofman was responsible, he should not be appointed head of the Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations, commonly known as the Mossad.
The criticism centered on Gofman's conduct in the case involving then-minor Uri Elmakayes, who, at age 17, was allegedly handled by one of Gofman's subordinates. At the time, Gofman was serving as commander of the IDF's 210th Division in Northern Command and allegedly authorized one of his subordinates to pass information to Elmakayes so he could publish it on a Telegram channel he operated, despite lacking the authority to approve the use of the minor.
"An extremely serious flaw from an ethical and moral standpoint"
Grunis made clear that he did not view that breach itself as a matter of "integrity," but said the use of a minor by the division was of a different order.
"The division commander is responsible for the division's actions and omissions. Since the use of a minor who is an Israeli civilian is an extremely serious flaw from an ethical and moral standpoint, this is an integrity-related flaw that must be attributed to Gofman, even if I assume he did not know that fact," he wrote.
Grunis also pointed to another flaw, saying Gofman distanced himself from Elmakayes when asked by IDF officials whether the youth had been handled by the division. "When they were asked a concrete question, they did not give a precise answer, and that is a mild description," he wrote, adding that this amounted to a highly significant integrity-related flaw.
Lastly, he addressed Elmakayes' arrest on suspicion of passing classified material to the enemy. "I doubt Gofman did not know about the arrest shortly after it was carried out, and it is clear that the division was obligated to inform IDF authorities who requested the arrest that Elmakayes had received material from the division for distribution," Grunis wrote, concluding that Gofman bore clear responsibility for the division's failure to update the military about Elmakayes' use before the arrest warrant was issued.
The committee declined to hear directly from Elmakayes and instead referred to a summary of the claims he made in public interviews. Elmakayes said he intends to file a petition with the High Court of Justice against the appointment.
