Intelligence officials slam ex-Mossad chief for alleged leak of secrets

NEW DELHI: Former Mossad and intelligence officials have lambasted the former head of Israel's spy agency, Yossi Cohen, following an explosive investigative report that said he had revealed state secrets to a flight attendant with whom he was having an affair, as well as to her then-husband, Times of Israel reported.

In comments reported on Wednesday, a day after the Channel 13 report, one of the former officials described Cohen as "power-crazy" and argued that his actions would have landed a lower-ranking official in jail, the report said.

However, right-wing pundits and social media users in Israel have seemed to rally behind Cohen, rejecting the allegations in a similar fashion to how they have supported Cohen's close associate, former Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the report added.

Channel 13's HaMakor investigative program reported on Tuesday that the affair began in late 2018 and saw Cohen brag to the couple about various secret details from the spy agency's operations around the world, as well as provide them with information on his global travels, the report said.

"He told lots of stories, including about Mossad," Guy Shiker, a well-known figure in Israeli capital markets, and former husband of the flight attendant, who was not named, told the program. "He's a blabbermouth."

Shiker said Cohen had told them in detail how he was recruited to the Mossad, how he had discovered the whereabouts of the doctor of an Arab leader, and other classified details, the report said.

According to the report, Shiker had been informed about Cohen's global movements as Mossad chief, including a long flight from Chad to the US after Netanyahu visited the African country as part of warming ties. A separate incident, which reportedly embarrassed Cohen with the top Mossad brass, involved Shiker's discovery of Cohen's movements being reported to the spy chief's deputy. (IANS)

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