The Issue of Lying
- The issue of the lie relates to Maj. Goffman's conduct during the examination call that he held with him on May 15, 2022, leading up to Mr. Almakais's arrest, at a time when the relevant IDF officials were asked by the investigative authorities to clarify whether Mr. Almakais was operated by military personnel with authority and authority, before a final decision was made on his arrest. As part of this inquiry, various units in the army were contacted, including the 210th Division. According to the affidavit of the Operations Commander, and the memorandum attached to it, the Operations Commander had a conversation with Maj. Gen. Goffman on the subject. The members of the majority opinion were of the opinion that Maj. Gen. Goffman's conduct in this matter was impeccable: "Not only was Maj. Gen. Goffman's answer to Brig. Gen. G. truthful from the outset, but also in retrospect it turned out to be the truth" (paragraph 2(e) of the supplementary opinion of the members of the majority opinion. See also section E for the reference of the members of the majority opinion to the minority opinion). According to the committee chairman, the picture is different. The chairman of the committee addressed this at length in his first opinion. There he noted that the question posed was "whether an external factor was employed by the division in the way of providing information for the purpose of influence and fraud. As may be recalled, it was found that not only did the division answer in the negative to this question (and it is not known who on its behalf), but even Brig. Gen. Goffman, who was asked concretely by the [Operations Brigade Commander], answered in the negative. All this was done shortly after Almakais was activated" (paragraph 19 of his opinion. See also: ibid., at section 11). The chairman of the committee was of the opinion that the denial of the operation by Maj. Gen. Goffman and the division constituted "inaccurate answers," and this was "gentle language" (ibid., at paragraph 23). This conclusion serves as a central basis for his decision: "Since the division and its commander are specific, they gave an incorrect answer, this constitutes a very significant flaw in terms of 'integrity'" (ibid., at paragraph 19).
- In my opinion, the issue of lying is the main issue that stands against General Goffman from an evidentiary point of view (as opposed to the aspect of moral severity). However, after carefully examining the totality of the evidence submitted to us, which can shed light on this matter, I have reached the conclusion that it is not possible to establish on the duty of Maj. Goffman, at the required administrative level, a finding that he deliberately provided false information as part of the CBAM investigation. I'll explain.
- The main evidence relating to the issue of falsehood is the affidavit of the Operating Brigade, to which the memorandum of understanding was attached. In view of its importance, I will quote the relevant sections of the memorandum of understanding:
- The main points of the conversation:
1) At the beginning of his remarks, the Chief of Staff noted that we are in the process of investigating a sensitive affair in the IDF, regarding the alleged transfer of intelligence materials to the Telegram channel in the field of security current affairs.