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Minister Amsalem Claims Previous Shin Bet Chief Would Not Investigate Iran Leak

The Zioneer Intelligence Desk
Minister Amsalem Claims Previous Shin Bet Chief Would Not Investigate Iran Leak

Primary source Internal intake · 1 reviewed intake signal · Desk window 17:01

TL;DR

At a Security Cabinet meeting, Minister David Amsalem defended an alleged leak of the Iran strike date and said former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar would not have investigated it — even though Bar left office before the current war with Iran. Shin Bet chief David Zini responded: "I respect you, also respect yourselves."

01 · THE DISPATCH

At a recent Security Cabinet meeting, as reported by Haaretz journalist Haim Levinson citing a Yedioth Ahronoth report by Amir Etinger, Minister David Amsalem dismissed the severity of an alleged leak that revealed the timing of Israel's strike on Iran to multiple journalists—including the prime minister's own media adviser, according to the account. Amsalem compared it to the 1980s Mordechai Vanunu affair, in which Vanunu leaked photos from the Dimona nuclear reactor, asserting: "The Vanunu affair does not approach what happened here."

When Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs corrected Amsalem, noting that former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar left office in May 2025—before the current war with Iran—Amsalem countered: "Doesn't matter, if he were here he wouldn't check it." The exchange prompted current Shin Bet chief David Zini to respond: "I respect you, also respect yourselves."

The article, published on Haim Levinson's channel, presents this as emblematic of a government that operates within an alternative reality, where daily accountability is abandoned. It also asserts, without providing on-the-record evidence, that a Washington source says President Trump is determined to proceed with civilian shelters in Gaza and an international police force, timing delayed but not abandoned.

As The Zioneer has previously reported (June 14), the Security Cabinet has met in fortified settings amid Iran retaliation fears. The broader claim by Levinson that Hamas is rearming in Gaza and that Israel's military campaign was unsuccessful is presented as analysis rather than confirmed battlefield assessment.

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