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The Be'er Sheva District court on Monday approved publication of new details in a case dealing with a serious security breach in the IDF. An Israeli man is facing charges of espionage, exposure to confidential material, entering a military base and fraudulently obtaining material. The court released the information after a request from Ynet and its sister publication, Yedioth Ahronoth.
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According to court filings, the accused, an Israeli citizen, misrepresented himself and his rank, and took advantage of the intense and complex situation in the wake of the October 7 massacre to obtain access to highly confidential material and documenting the confidential material by various means, and even sharing some of it with civilians and members of the military who were not authorized to see it. He was arrested after raising suspicion among members of the military.
In court filings, the prosecution notes that, according to their investigation, the man did not work in the service of any enemy group nor did he supply any such group with information.
The charges against him described how he falsely represented himself as a member of the military intelligence, a captain, although his real military rank was lieutenant, and attended situational reports and entered operational centers that he did not have any authority to be in. He did so repeatedly over a number of days before being taken for interrogation by the Shin Bet.
The defendant denies the charges.
This was not the first time that an Israeli was able to penetrate the military under false pretenses. In December, charges were brought against Roy Yifrach who impersonated an an IDF soldier, a police officer and a Shin Bet officer, stole weapons, ammunition and military equipment from the conflict zone in Gaza, and even posed for pictures with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant when they came to visit the troops.