Equipped with this clarification, we can turn to an examination of the three issues in which it is claimed that Maj. Gen. Goffman failed in principle in the Almakais case: the issue of the minorT; the issue of lying; and the issue of abandonment. We will do so in what appears to me to be "light to heavy" in terms of the severity of the moral defect that the petitions attribute to Maj. Gen. Goffman.
The Issue of Minors
- The dispute in the committee regarding the issue of the minors was the narrowest of the three issues. The chairman of the committee doubted that Maj. Goffman was not aware that Mr. Almakais was a minor at the time he was operated by the division, but he was willing to assume, in his favor, that he did not know this. The chairman of the committee explained that the doubts inthis matter stem from three facts that may act in accordance with Maj. Gen. Goffman's obligation: it is difficult to assume that he was not interested in the details of the operation, in view of the exceptional circumstances of the permit he granted - a permit to operate an Israeli civilian by a member of his command, without obtaining approval from the competent authorities in the IDF; It is difficult to assume that Maj. Gen. Tzur did not provide any details to Maj. Gen. Goffman about Mr. Almakais; and the fact that Major General Goffman gave an irrelevant answer when asked by the committee why he did not inquire with Major Tzur what the civilian he employed had done during his military service (a question that would have raised the fact that Mr. Almakais had not yet enlisted in the IDF, because he was a minor. See: paragraph 9 of the Committee's Chairman's Opinion). The majority opinion was of the opinion that Maj. Gen. Goffman was not aware that Mr. Almakais was a minor, since he did not know his identity or details about the channel's operator (paragraph 7.3 of the majority opinion). See also section D for the reference of the members of the majority of the committee to the classified materials). I also do not see it possible to determine in this matter, on the basis of the totality of the material that was published before the committee, a finding according to which Maj. Gen. Goffman was aware of the matter of the minors at the time of the operation. It should be noted that there is no dispute that Maj. Gen. Goffman was never in direct contact with Mr. Almakais, nor is there any dispute that Maj. Gen. Goffman was not aware of all the information that Major Tzur passed on to Mr. Almakais (see: paragraph 20 of the opinion of the Chairman of the Committee). See also: Minutes of Mr. Almakays' statement to the Committee dated May 21, 2026, at p. 7 (hereinafter: Almakais Statement in the Committee)).
Maj. Gen. Goffman vehemently and consistently claimed that he did not know that he was a minor in real time, and only discovered this at a later stage of the affair. The background to this, according to his words in the committee, is that the permission to contact the operators of the Telegram channel was given "on the way", and in circumstances in which it is natural that there will not be a comprehensive inquiry into Mr. Almakays' characteristics. This was after Res"N Tzur described to him, During "Conversation in Ham"30" Or something like that", A Concrete Problem in the Field of Intelligence, and Major General Goffman authorized him to be assisted by Mr. Almakais In order to deal with it, after making sure Because it is a sin"N Tzur will not pass on intelligence material Classified (Maj. Gen. Goffman's second statement to the committee, at p. 5. See also: ibid., at p. 4).
- It is not superfluous to note that prior to the publication of the affair, the commander of the Northern Command at the time, Maj. Amir Baram, was examining the leak of information from the Northern Command (after it was transferred from the MAG instructing him to conduct a disciplinary proceeding to Maj. Gen. Goffman, following the investigation by the IAFAM). The commander of the Northern Command summoned Maj. Gen. Goffman for a conversation with him, and gave him a command note (for details on the matter, see the commanders' update, section 7). As part of the aforementioned inquiry, he noted that Maj. Gen. Goffman admitted the facts, but claimed that he did not know that Mr. Almakais was 17 years old at the time. The Commander of the Northern Command at the time clarified that he believed Maj. Gen. Goffman "with complete faith" that he did not know that Mr. Almakais was a minor (Statement by the Commander of the Commander of the Committee, at p. 2 and the opinion of the majority, in paragraph 6.6).
From the aforesaid it follows that, according to the material before us, it is not possible to determine that at the time of Mr. Almakais' operation, Maj. Gen. Goffman was aware that he was a minor. This, as determined by the majority opinion of the committee, and as it was correct to assume (despite doubts on the matter) that the chairman of the committee was also assumed.