The Shin Bet
(Israel Security Agency) denied that Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz leaked
information on Iran from confidential security cabinet meetings, after Kuwaiti
newspaper Al-Jarida reported the claim on Tuesday.
According to
Al-Jarida, Steinitz shared information on intelligence briefings and high-level
discussions between Defense Minister Ehud Barak and his American counterparts on
Iran. The Kuwaiti paper said the Shin Bet discovered the leaks by monitoring the
finance minister's phone calls.
Sources close to Steinitz blamed Barak
for the reports, but Barak's office said that is not their style, that Barak
does not pay any attention to Steinitz.
Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen called
Steinitz to say the Al-Jarida report is baseless.
Last week, Channel 2
reported that, in a conversation between Steinitz and Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu, the finance minister said that Barak betrayed Netanyahu by fomenting
his dispute with US President Barack Obama in order to make himself look more
moderate.
Soon after, Barak's close ally Industry Trade and Labor
Minister Shalom Simhon called Steinitz "Netanyahu's poodle."