The State Comptroller’s Office stated Thursday that Comptroller Yosef Shapira will not allow the classification of parts of hisreport on Operation Protective Edge that do not pertain to operational details. Channel 2 News’ Amnon Rubinstein reported that if there is an attempt to prevent the report’s publication, Shapira will recommend that a national board of inquiry be established.
Shapira has already stated that he is examining the government and Cabinet’s decision making during the 2014 operation. He believes the number of discussions and their depth, as well as the issue of the government’s awareness of the threat of Hamas attack tunnels, should not be classified.
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The government has the ability to widen the scope of classification on the report. In case such a thing is done, the comptroller intends to implement his authority and suggest that a national board of inquiry be established to investigate Operation Protective Edge.
The comptroller sent a draft of his report to those who were Cabinet members during the summer 2014 operation. The leaked draft reveals a very severe report, in which the comptroller is set to heavily criticize Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, and former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz.
That draft reportedly includes claims that Netanyahu and Ya’alon did not update the Cabinet on the Shin Bet’s warnings of a possible upcoming military conflict with Hamas shortly before it broke out in July 2014, and that the Cabinet did not discuss the tunnel threat until Protective Edge was already underway. Gantz is expected to be criticized over military estimates given to the Cabinet.
The prime minister’s associates have said of the report that it is, “A non-serious report by a non-serious comptroller.” They have rejected Shapira’s claims out of hand and said, “The opreration was conducted with transparency and ended in success, all the rest is badmouthing.” They further claimed that the Cabinet met several times, including once especially in order to discuss the tunnel threat.
