Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, a spokesman for the Israeli military, apologized Thursday after being reprimanded for taking a public stance on a bill currently being considered in Parliament. This former marine commando, who has become a familiar and respected face among Israelis due to his frequent televised press briefings since October 7, criticized on Wednesday evening a bill aimed at preventing soldiers or members of the establishment from defense are prosecuted for having transmitted confidential documents without prior authorization to the Prime Minister or to defense officials.
Supported by two deputies from Likud, Benyamin Netanyahu's party, the Feldstein bill, named after Eliezer Feldstein, former spokesperson for the Prime Minister and main suspect in an investigation opened for the leak of confidential military documents, was adopted in preliminary reading in Parliament.
The bill is “very dangerous because it could allow any junior member of the IDF [l’armée israélienne] to steal information on their own (…), this endangers people's lives and the lives of fighters. It is dangerous for the army and for the security of the country”insisted Mr. Hagari during his press conference Wednesday evening.
Reprimanded by the Chief of Staff, Herzi Halevi, Daniel Hagari apologized shortly after in a message on https://twitter.com/IDFSpokesperson/status/1864396175224307718. “In my statement this evening in response to questions, I expressed myself in a manner that exceeded my prerogatives as military spokesperson, and I was reprimanded for it by the head of state- major »he wrote. “The State of Israel is a democratic country and the IDF is subordinate to the political level”he added.
The Prime Minister welcomed the reprimand, saying Wednesday evening, in a press release from his services, that “in a democratic country, the army should not intervene in political affairs and certainly not criticize legislation”.
Daniel Hagari had already been called to order by the government in June after having described “window dressing” the idea that we could “to make disappear” Hamas, whose attack on October 7, 2023 on Israeli soil triggered the war in the Gaza Strip.
