Netanyahu's chief of staff accused of blackmailing officer to alter minutes of cabinet meeting

JERUSALEM

Tzachi Braverman, chief of staff to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is suspected of blackmailing a military officer to alter minutes of War Cabinet meetings by threatening him with a sensitive video recording, local media including Haaretz and Times of Israel reported on Sunday.

The suspicion is that staff in the Prime Minister's Office used the sensitive information belonging to the senior officer to gain access to the minutes, with the intent to alter them.

The investigation focuses on changes allegedly made to minutes of meetings held early in the war between Premier Netanyahu and his former military secretary, Maj. Gen. Avi Gil.

Haaretz said according to a report Gil submitted several months ago to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, the Prime Minister's Office "tried to change several details in those minutes."

The Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported on Friday there was also an investigation into a change made in minutes of a cabinet meeting that dealt with preparations for sessions relating to Israel at the International Court in The Hague, the left-leaning daily said.

Braverman, however, has denied the allegations, saying "this is a lie from start to finish, intended to harm me and the Prime Minister's Office in the middle of a war.”

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala