Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara filed an indictment against Likud MK Tally Gotliv on Monday for allegedly disclosing and publishing confidential information in violation of the Shin Bet law, after Gotliv publicized the identity of the partner of protest leader Shikma Bressler, who the indictment says was a Shin Bet employee.
Under the Knesset Members Immunity Law, a copy of the indictment was submitted to Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana and the Knesset House Committee chair, giving Gotliv the opportunity to ask the Knesset to grant her immunity from criminal prosecution.
Shortly before the indictment was announced, Gotliv wrote on X/Twitter: “Roaring applause to Miara,” adding that she intended to convince MKs that “the exposure of Bressler’s partner was done as part of and for the purpose of fulfilling my role.” She added: “As is known, they do not intimidate me.”
A-G indicts Gotliv
According to the indictment, Gotliv published on January 24, 2024, a screenshot from the website Edna Karnaval that included the full name of Bressler’s partner and claims tying him to alleged contacts with then-Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar before the October 7 massacre. Edna Karnaval is described by the indictment as having a “critical and blunt” style, especially toward public officials.
The screenshot, according to the indictment, included a headline alleging that Mossad chief David Barnea had received information from the Americans that they had intercepted calls between Bressler’s partner and Sinwar four days before October 7. The article further claimed that Barnea had summoned Bressler to a meeting, and that the Prime Minister’s Office had later issued a denial of Gotliv’s earlier statements.
Gotliv added in her own post: “Edna Karnaval reports that the US intercepted calls between Shikma Bressler’s husband and the great murderer Yahya Sinwar several days before the inferno,” referring to October 7. She continued: “Remember that I wrote here about a meeting between Bressler and the Mossad chief? Remember that the Prime Minister’s Office issued a denial of my words, and I clarified that I stand behind my words? My sources are iron!”
The indictment says the post received more than 400,000 views, over 1,000 comments, over 1,000 likes, and more than 500 shares. It says Gotliv’s X account had more than 65,000 followers at the start of the relevant period, and more than 90,000 by the time the indictment was filed.
Prosecutors alleged that Gotliv revealed and published the name of the Shin Bet employee and his relationship with Bressler “knowingly, deliberately, continuously, demonstratively, and repeatedly.” The indictment says the post remained available online from the time of publication until the indictment was filed, and that Gotliv did not remove it from her account.
The indictment further says Gotliv stood by the publication, repeatedly published similar statements in which she again identified Bressler’s partner as a Shin Bet employee, and publicly stated that she had no intention of removing or apologizing for what she had written.
The Mossad denied the claim at the time, calling it a “recycled falsehood” and saying Barnea had “never met, spoken to, or invited Shikma Bressler to a meeting.” JPost previously reported that Bressler filed a NIS 2.6 million defamation suit against Gotliv and others over the allegations, while the State Attorney’s Office later rejected Gotliv’s claim that parliamentary immunity shielded her from questioning.
The filing comes after Defense Minister Israel Katz signed a certificate of confidentiality earlier this month, clearing a procedural obstacle that had delayed the case. Israeli media reported that the certificate was needed for the criminal proceedings because the case involves Shin Bet information and the identity of a security-service employee.
Gotliv has repeatedly framed the matter as a political and legal fight over her work as an MK. In her post ahead of the indictment, she wrote that the attorney-general had acted after Katz signed the confidentiality certificate, and said she had not yet received the indictment, adding that she expected to read it “soon at one of [Miara’s] mouthpieces.”
The charge listed in the indictment is revealing and publishing confidential information under the Shin Bet law. If Gotliv asks the Knesset to grant her immunity, the matter is expected to move first through the Knesset process before the criminal case can proceed in court.
National Security Minister and Otzma Yehudit head Itamar Ben-Gvir said in response in a post on X/Twitter: “It is about time that [Justice Minister] Yariv Levin and my friends in the Likud break through the blockade of fear regarding the A-G - [judicial] reform now!”
Likud MK Boaz Bismuth wrote that “attorney” Baharav-Miara “continues in her careless acts against right-wing MKs and ministers…” and said that it “would not succeed.”
He further called on the government to advance her dismissal.
The move came on the same day that a bill to split the A-G's role was approved to be advanced for first reading.