Israel’s Shin Bet security agency reportedly failed for more than a year to provide police investigators with critical information concerning the investigation into an alleged late-night meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman, and former PMO spokesman Eli Feldstein.

According to a report by Kan News, the Shin Bet knew that information regarding a covert investigation had reached the Prime Minister’s Office through Braverman, but did not inform police investigators of that fact for more than a year.

According to the allegations under investigation, even before Feldstein was arrested, Braverman had received information concerning the existence of the secret probe as well as the identities of potential suspects. Investigators have been examining whether that advance knowledge could have been used to interfere with the investigation.

A central question for police was how officials inside the Prime Minister’s Office became aware of the investigation before arrests were carried out.

Investigators have now reportedly learned that the Shin Bet, which was involved in the investigation, had sought authorization to conduct a sensitive investigative procedure that remains under a gag order. Because approval from the prime minister was required, the request was transmitted through Braverman in his capacity as Netanyahu’s chief of staff.

That process apparently exposed the existence of the covert investigation to the Prime Minister’s Office.

Despite knowing that the information had reached the PMO, the Shin Bet reportedly did not disclose this fact to the police unit conducting the investigation — even after Feldstein told investigators that a senior official had informed him about the probe, and even after Braverman himself was questioned under caution.

Without that information, police initially suspected that details of the secret investigation had been leaked to Braverman from within the IDF. As a result, a senior official in the IDF chief of staff’s office was questioned under caution on suspicion of improperly passing classified internal information to Braverman.

The Shin Bet has reportedly not explained why it waited more than a year to provide police with the information. The disclosure ultimately helped investigators piece together the chain of events and reportedly contributed to the preparation of a draft indictment.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)