Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sharply attacked Mossad head Dedi Barnea, following the latter's cooperation with attorney Gali Baharav-Miara as part of the petition to the High Court of Justice against the appointment of Roman Gofman as his replacement at the head of the Mossad.
According to a report by Avishai Greenzig on i24, Netanyahu was furious that Barnea had voluntarily forwarded a letter to the judges through the Rabbi-Miara, without being asked to do so and even though he was not a party to the proceedings at all and had already expressed his position before the Grunis Committee.
""How can you act behind my back and cooperate with the attorney general, when you know that she does not represent the government in this petition," Netanyahu lashed out at Barnea.
Mossad head Barnea was not left unscathed, and clarified that he was the one who initiated the appeal to Barrab-Miara.
The Prime Minister responded to this: "This is an undermining of authority. You are subordinate to the Prime Minister, and this is my appointment as Prime Minister. There is a difference between appearing before the authorized committee to discuss Goffman's moral integrity and trying to convince the judges without being asked to do so and without having any authority to do so, after the committee has already stood up from its chair and decided what it decided. You hid the matter from me, when I myself, as Prime Minister, decided on Goffman's appointment.".
Barnea replied: "For me, this is 'completion of argument' of my claim before the committee. I wanted to convey my position to the judges, and I was told that the way was through the legal advisor to the government.".
The Prime Minister's Office and the Mossad chose not to officially respond to the publication.
