Eisenkot demands decision on Netanyahu aide's alleged record alteration

Gadi Eisenkot, chairman of the Yashar! party, called on Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara on Saturday to decide whether to indict Tzachi Braverman, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's former chief of staff, and others before the upcoming elections, following revelations that Braverman acknowledged changing the recorded time of a phone call on the morning of the October 7 massacre.Eisenkot's appeal followed information that emerged about Braverman's acknowledgment during a police investigation that he had changed an official record documenting a conversation between Netanyahu and his military secretary on the morning of the October 7 attack. Eisenkot requested a response by October 16.'Suspicions of serious offenses'In his letter, titled "The Public's Right to Know," Eisenkot wrote that the information concerning Braverman's acknowledgment added to other incidents that, he claimed, pointed to a systematic pattern of falsifying and distorting official records, with the knowledge and at the direction of the prime minister and his senior advisers."These are suspicions of some of the most serious offenses in the criminal code, certainly if they involve the prime minister and those around him," he wrote.The allegations concerning Netanyahu's involvement are Eisenkot's claims and have not been established as findings of the investigation.Eisenkot added that "there is a clear public interest in reaching a decision on whether to file an indictment against Mr. Braverman and others before the elections."He said that if there was suspicion that Netanyahu was involved in, directed, or was even aware of Braverman's actions, the investigation should be completed quickly and its findings made public.Eisenkot is demanding a decision in the case, which has already been transferred to the State Attorney's Office, and the completion of any further investigation if there are grounds to suspect the prime minister's involvement.He is not demanding that an indictment be filed regardless of the evidence, but rather that a decision on whether to indict be reached before the elections.Braverman confirmed to authorities that he changed the recorded timeBraverman acknowledged changing recorded time, police sources sayBraverman was questioned under caution in November 2024 by the Israel Police's National Unit for the Investigation of Serious and International Crime.Investigators collected testimony and seized documents and computer files, including, according to information released about the investigation, both the original record and the altered version.According to information provided about the investigation, Braverman confirmed during questioning that he had changed the recorded time.A senior police official said that investigators had established an evidentiary basis for indicting Braverman on a forgery charge in the case transferred to the State Attorney's Office.The case has been awaiting a decision for more than a year.Acknowledging a change to an official record does not necessarily constitute an admission of a criminal offense.Braverman's attorney, Jacques Chen, previously argued that his client had acted within his authority to correct a recording error.Prosecutors must determine whether the change was a lawful correction or an unauthorized alteration of an official document, taking into account the evidence concerning the circumstances in which it was made.Former military secretary recounts request to alter call recordThe appeal comes against the backdrop of the first public testimony by Maj.-Gen. (res.) Avi Gil, who served as Netanyahu's military secretary on the morning of the October 7 massacre.Gil said that in January 2024, a stenographer from the Prime Minister's Office approached him and told him she had been instructed to change the recorded time of a telephone conversation he had held with Netanyahu on the morning of October 7, from 6:40 a.m. to 6:29 a.m.According to Gil, the instruction came from Braverman. Gil said that as early as late October 2023, he had received information about the unusual collection of official records and stenographic transcripts at the Prime Minister's Office, contrary to established procedures.Following that information, he contacted the attorney-general and asked her to clarify the rules governing access to and copying of the records. After learning that the recorded time of the phone call had been changed, he updated Baharav-Miara again, but asked her not to take action at that stage, while the war was underway.Gil recommended that a future commission of inquiry examine the original recordings rather than rely solely on written transcripts. The suspicions concern an 11-minute alteration to the record of a conversation that took place during the first hours of the Hamas attack.The timing of the conversation could be significant in reconstructing the sequence of updates Netanyahu received on the morning of the massacre.Changing the recorded time from 6:40 a.m. to 6:29 a.m. places the conversation 11 minutes earlier in the official record, potentially affecting efforts to reconstruct the sequence of events and determine what information the prime minister possessed during those hours.Gil emphasized that he did not know whether additional official records had been altered. Likud and police offer conflicting accounts of investigationFollowing the publication of Gil's interview, Likud claimed that the affair had already been investigated and that investigators had recommended closing the case.Police officials, however, said that investigators had established an evidentiary basis for prosecution and transferred the case to the State Attorney's Office for a decision. The accounts differ regarding the investigation's outcome.The decision on whether the evidence justifies filing an indictment rests with prosecutors, and no indictment has been filed. Eisenkot is seeking to accelerate the decision in light of the approaching elections. According to information about the case's status, a decision is not expected for at least another month.Eisenkot believes the public has a right to know, before casting its votes, whether an indictment will be filed in a case involving records of the prime minister's activities on the morning of October 7.In his letter, he requested a response to his appeal no later than Friday, October 16.