Following an exposé by the investigative program Uvda on Israeli television revealing IDF intelligence officers using special agents for non-military operations, including being sent to a village in Judea and Samaria to buy techina for a gift, the officers in question were severely reprimanded. IDF Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi accepted the recommendations of the head of the Military Intelligence Directorate, Maj. Gen. Tamir Heyman, and stripped a lieutenant colonel of his rank for using an Arab undercover agent to deliver techina as a gift to a senior officer. The officer initiated the operation and also was not completely honest during his investigation and will be discharged from the IDF. Another officer was sentenced to 28 days in the military prison for ordering the operation although he was aware it was unnecessary. Other officers who were not directly related to the operation but were in positions of authority and failed to take necessary precautions to reveal or avoid unnecessary operations received official reprimands on their records. Chief of Staff Kochavi said that he views these incidents as extremely serious and a blatant violation of the IDF’s ethical and professional code of conduct. Kochavi emphasized that operational activity, which is the core of the IDF’s activities, must be viewed as sacred and carried out solely for necessary security purposes. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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