Shin Bet files complaint over Netanyahu UAE visit leak

The Shin Bet filed a complaint Monday evening with the chief military censor demanding that Channel 12 be prosecuted "to the fullest extent" after the network broadcast details of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's secret visit to the United Arab Emirates. According to the PMO, the broadcast constituted a severe censorship violation that endangered the prime minister's security and exposed the service's operational methods.

"Publishing the visit at the stage it was published created a risk to the prime minister's security, to the operation and to forces on the ground," the Shin Bet stated. "In addition, publishing the visit and the manner in which it took place exposed the service's operational methods, in a way that puts future operations at significantly higher risk."

The complaint focuses on the timing of the broadcast: Channel 12's report aired Sunday night at 9:38 p.m., while the prime minister's aircraft was still far from Israeli borders. The plane landed in Israel only an hour later, at 10:27 p.m. According to the complaint, broadcasting while the delegation was still airborne created a real security risk.

Alongside the complaint, the Prime Minister's Office disclosed Monday evening the composition of the delegation that accompanied Netanyahu to the Emirates. The broadcast endangered, it was claimed, the lives of the prime minister and his wife, and the entourage that included the Mossad director, the head of the National Security Council, Major General Guy Markizano the military secretary, the head of the Shin Bet's security division, the flight crew and the security team.

In an opinion submitted by the Mossad regarding the severity of the damage caused by the Channel 12 broadcast, it was written: "This leak constituted a serious security threat to the security of the prime minister and the delegation... We wish to raise a flag and mark the publication event as a serious incident that constitutes damage to the security of the State of Israel."

Netanyahu's secret visit to the Emirates took place Sunday, with the prime minister taking off in the morning hours on a private plane to Abu Dhabi and remaining in the Emirates throughout the day. According to a report by the Associated Press, Netanyahu met with the president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, in a meeting that lasted approximately six hours.

The visit comes against the backdrop of the political storm in Israel surrounding claims of a warning conveyed to Netanyahu before the events of October 7. According to reports published in Haaretz, the UAE president called the prime minister ten days before the terror attack and warned him of a large-scale plot. Netanyahu has vigorously denied the report.

According to the AP report, Netanyahu pressed bin Zayed during the meeting to issue an official denial of the reports about advance warning. However, the UAE Foreign Ministry refused to address the content of the meeting directly and did not issue a denial statement. Instead, a vague response was issued stating that Abu Dhabi maintains "open and direct lines of communication" with Israel.