A petition was filed on Tuesday at the High Court of Justice against the appointment of Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman as the next director of the Mossad intelligence agency by a man who was used by Gofman when as a minor for a so-called influence operation.

Gofman, who has been serving as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s military secretary, was approved on Sunday after the Senior Appointments Advisory Committee gave the green light for his appointment.

The petition by Ori Elmakayes and Telem–the Movement for Integrity in Government, focused on Gofman’s authorization in 2022, while commanding the IDF’s 210th “Bashan” Regional Division in the Golan Heights, to use Elmakayes, then 17, in an Arabic-language influence campaign.

As a result of Gofman’s actions, Elmakayes was detained and interrogated by the Shin Bet domestic security agency, held in isolation for two months, charged with espionage offenses, and held in detention for 18 months before the charges were dropped.

Telem stated that the petition cites this affair as well as what it said was Gofman’s failure to tell the truth to IDF investigators who probed the incident. Additionally, Telem noted that Gofman “was silent” during the legal proceedings against Elmakayes, and cited “his failure to take responsibility for the affair and the abuse of a minor who had committed no offense, and his untrustworthiness.”

The petitioners stated that the advisory committee refused to hear testimony from Elmakayes, who requested to appear before it, instead relying on interviews of him in the media. Also, the committee refrained from summoning Brigadier General G., the Operations Colonel in the Military Intelligence Directorate during the relevant period, the Walla news site reported.

The petition also underlined the opposition of the chair........

© The Times of Israel