Leftist group Breaking the Silence under fire for 'espionage, treason' - Shlomi Diaz, Mati Tuchfeld, Yair Altman and Israel Hayom Staff

by Shlomi Diaz, Mati Tuchfeld, Yair Altman and Israel Hayom Staff

Justice minister: Anyone saying collecting classified information has anything to do with human rights is lying • Former IDF chief: What Breaking the Silence is doing is very wrong • Group's supporters say report that sparked controversy is biased, false.

A screen shot from the Channel 2 investigative report on left-wing group Breaking the Silence | Photo credit: Channel 2 News

The left-wing group Breaking the Silence came under scathing criticism over the weekend, following a Channel 2 News report that suggested its members were actively collecting classified military information, with some critics saying the organization's actions were akin to espionage and even treason.

"Breaking the Silence poses a big problem," former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said Saturday. "The IDF is an organization experienced in conducting its own investigations and maintaining its ethics. The military doesn't distort its findings and it doesn't need external help. The State of Israel faces serious challenges, and anyone who cares about this country knows better than to come out against it like this, especially when you expose operational inquiries. What this group is doing is very wrong." 

On Friday, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon instructed the military to launch an investigation into the organization, which is dedicated to exposing alleged human rights violations by the IDF.

The Military Advocate General will oversee the investigation, which is being conducted jointly by the Military Police and the Information Security Department at the Military Intelligence Directorate. The probe will focus on Breaking the Silence's information gathering tactics and whether its members were able to operate on military bases. 

Ya'alon had barred the group's members from all military bases in December, calling their activities "outrageous and unacceptable." 

While the IDF offered no official comment to the matter, a defense official told Israel Hayom: "Following the defense minister's order, we'll have to see if regular troops, not only reservists, are giving [Breaking the Silence] information. The military will also clarify and underscore [information security] guidelines on all bases, especially across Judea and Samaria, barring disclosing operational information to anyone." 

Former Shin Bet security agency chief Yuval Diskin told Channel 2 Saturday that "the issue should be viewed on two levels: If this group is operating illegally within the IDF, then the military has to investigate this and, depending on the evidence, press charges. However, in the complex reality we operate under, I think that overall, having groups that focus on human rights is a good thing."

Tourism Minister Yariv Levin (Likud) told Channel 2 News Saturday that Breaking the Silence's actions were akin to "espionage" and "treason," and he believes the group's activities must be curtailed.

"This is a group of people who, using foreign funding, systematically try to have Israeli soldiers prosecuted overseas, to deter others from doing their job. Nowhere in the world, no country, would allow this. Now we find out that they have also taken up espionage by collecting [classified] information." 

Commenting on Elkin's remarks, Meretz leader Zehava Galon said, "Breaking the Silence runs everything by the [military] censor, and they don't publish anything the censor redacts. This group is part of a system of social organizations that criticize the government and the policy of controlling another people for over 50 years. You want to silence anyone who criticizes the government -- this is the beginning of McCarthyism." 

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked commented on Channel 2's report saying, "The fact that there's an organization that has usurped the authority to gather tactical intelligence on the military's operational activities is very serious, especially since it exploits soldiers by presenting them with ostensibly innocent questions.

"It's clear to any reasonable person that anyone saying collecting this kind of information has anything to do with human rights is lying. Those collecting this kind of information are trying to undermine their country, in a way not very different than espionage." 

Meanwhile, the right-wing Im Tirtzu organization is promoting a public petition urging Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit to launch an investigation into Breaking the Silence.

"We ask a criminal investigation be launched against the radical group Breaking the Silence without delay, as its actions raise suspicion of espionage," the petition said, noting that much of the leftist group's funding comes from the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat, a Ramallah-based Palestinian nongovernmental organization.

Some 4,000 people have signed the petition since it was made public on Friday. 

Breaking the Silence supporters, including former GOC Northern Command Maj. Gen. (ret.) Amiram Levin, criticized Channel 2's report as false. Levin, who in December took out a half-page ad in Haaretz in support of the controversial group, told Army Radio on Sunday that Channel 2's report was "biased, misleading, and borderline fictitious."

Shlomi Diaz, Mati Tuchfeld, Yair Altman and Israel Hayom Staff

Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=32525

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