Complaint filed with police convinces ex-Shin Bet head to leave Denmark

Danish authorities in the end reject complaint against Carmi Gilon; Foreign Ministry calls complaint “unsubstantiated and politically motivated.”

By HERB KEINON
gatekeepers 370 (photo credit: Courtesy)
gatekeepers 370
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Former Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) director Carmi Gilon, invited to Copenhagen to attend a screening of The Gatekeepers, left the country prematurely on Saturday after a police complaint was filed against him.
Not knowing exactly where this complaint would lead, Gilon decided not to take any chances but to leave the country before the screening of the film. The Israeli Embassy in Copenhagen sought clarifications, but it was not clear how the judiciary would deal with the complaint.
In the end, the Danish legal authorities decided to reject it.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor characterized the complaint as “unsubstantiated and politically motivated.”
Palmor said those behind the move were “extremists who attempt to muzzle free speech and exert intimidation.
These elements strive to conceal from the public in Copenhagen the complex reality with which Israel has to cope daily, while it succeeds in safeguarding its security and its democratic character in the best possible way.”
The Gatekeepers, ironically, is a documentary on the Shin Bet told from the perspective of six former heads of the organization, and is very critical of Israel’s policies in the West Bank.