Exposing the war protocols: procedures, Netanyahu's maneuver, and concerns ahead of the elections
In political circles, there are concerns that the Prime Minister's Office will use its control over the transcripts of war discussions to distort reality. After another campaign against him, Gadi Eisenkot demanded: "Expose the full protocols." The procedures regarding their handling are strict, but Netanyahu's people have found ways in the past to remove materials and declassify dozens of secret documents.
Ahead of the upcoming elections, exactly two months away, sources in the political system are expressing concern that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will use his office's almost absolute control over the war protocols to distort reality and serve him politically.
Chairman of the Yeshar! party and candidate for Prime Minister Gadi Eisenkot demanded that the Cabinet Secretary expose the full protocols from the war cabinet, so that the public would be exposed to the written truth in its entirety, in the absence of a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 massacre. Eisenkot says this in response to Netanyahu's campaign against him, in which it was claimed that he blocked significant military moves. He claims he supported the operation in Rafah, the maneuver in the Gaza Strip, and was the only voice that demanded to act with extensive force against Iran according to the plans proposed by the army, while Netanyahu showed fear and transferred the decision to a narrow ministerial committee.
Manipulating the Record
This is not the first time that claims have been raised that the Prime Minister's Office manipulates the protocols of discussions on the October 7 war and extracts quotes that are convenient for Netanyahu. In February of this year, Netanyahu published a 55-page document in response to questions from the then State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman. The document was a concentrated and defensive version of the events of October 7 and suffered from blatant one-sidedness. A senior IDF officer who was dominant around the events of October 7 read the document and was amazed: "We have a pathological liar for a prime minister. This document is a fraud and a forgery."
In the Prime Minister's Office and the Military Secretariat, there is a strict procedure for handling classified protocols. No discussion, from a one-on-one meeting with the head of the Mossad to a political-security cabinet meeting, takes place without a stenographer. Conversations are recorded, transcribed, and filed in the archives. Documents are transferred in sealed envelopes with numbered copies, and recipients must sign for their receipt.
Breach of Procedure
Sources involved in the matter said that Netanyahu's then-Chief of Staff Tzachi Braverman requested classified summaries of political-security cabinet meetings from the government secretariat. In late November 2023, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara turned to the then-head of the NSC Tzachi Hanegbi with a demand to collect any classified documents that were handed over to the Prime Minister's office in violation of procedures.
Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon clarified: "One must be extremely careful at this time that requests to review classified material are handled in accordance with the mandatory procedures." Despite this, Netanyahu effectively removed the classification from dozens of secret documents by publishing them in his response to the State Comptroller. A former senior security official commented: "The Prime Minister has gone off the rails. He does not have the authority to declassify sensitive documents. Someone here has breached their duty."
