Yoram Cohen, who previously served as head of the Shin Bet, said this morning (Monday) in an interview with Galei Tzahal that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allegedly asked him to dismiss Naftali Bennett from the political and security cabinet.
""During my time as head of the Shin Bet, Netanyahu asked me to dismiss Bennett from the cabinet after he claimed that as a soldier he was removed from the General Staff Patrol because of a credibility problem," Cohen said. "I told him, 'Are you serious? I wouldn't do anything like that.'".
He also said that he responded to Netanyahu: "I told him, 'What's relevant about what happened 30 years ago?' Secondly, I made it clear that I don't do anything like that. Isn't it shocking that a prime minister approaches the head of the Shin Bet and demands that he disqualify or use his power to disqualify a political opponent? Isn't it disturbing? So I said no. What would have happened if someone else had said yes?""
The Prime Minister's Office responded: "Another round of transparent fake news by Yoram Cohen, who became a politician and is trying to cover up the corruption within the Shin Bet under Ronen Bar, through ridiculous lies.".
The Likud party attacked the former head of the Shin Bet, following his comments: "The lie of Yoram Cohen, who has long since become a politician, screams to the heavens. The prime minister never asked him to revoke Naftali Bennett's security clearance.".
The party added: "Cohen apparently forgot that elected officials, including members of the political-security cabinet, are not required to have a security clearance at all.".
Commentator Amit Segal wrote: "A not-so-interesting detail regarding Yoram Cohen, who this morning told the story of Netanyahu and Bennett in his own voice for the first time in 11 years: He announced at a press conference about a year ago that he was considering entering politics, and his name is mentioned as a senior figure on Bennett's list.".
He added: "By the way, there is no logic in demanding the removal of a cabinet member, since his presence there is part of a coalition agreement and not the result of any classification tests.".
Segal emphasized: "It's strange that Yoram Cohen kept this story in his heart. He had no shortage of opportunities to be interviewed, as we know.".
Naftali Bennett responded to Cohen's story: "Not only was I not eliminated, in 1992 I completed a combat course in the General Staff Patrol along with my friends from the 'Giora' team.".
Bennett added, lashing out at Netanyahu: "In 2014, as a cabinet member, I demanded that Netanyahu take offensive action against Hamas in Gaza. Yoram Cohen today exposed Netanyahu's lies and his paranoia about me. I wanted to eliminate Hamas, Netanyahu wanted to eliminate me.".
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