Full Breakdown
Alleged Tampering of October 7 Phone Record by Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Chief of Staff
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Alleged Record Alteration
Police say they have gathered enough evidence to charge Tzachi Braverman, chief of staff to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with altering the timestamp of a secure phone call between Netanyahu and his then-military secretary Avi Gil on the morning of the October 7, 2023 Hamas onslaught. According to the investigation, the original call was logged at 6:40 a.m.; Braverman is accused of changing it to 6:29 a.m. Braverman reportedly admitted the change, claiming he believed the original time was incorrect.
Investigation and Legal Status
The probe, which began in 2024, was concluded by police over a year ago and the files were forwarded to prosecutors. The decision to indict now rests with Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. Prosecutors are reported to be leaning toward closing the case, and sources cited by Haaretz suggest the likelihood of a charge is low because proving that the alteration was intentional rather than a mistake would be legally difficult. In addition to the record-tampering allegation, Braverman faces separate indictments for obstruction of justice, fraud and breach of trust linked to a classified-document leak, which have blocked his appointment as Israel’s ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Official Responses
Avi Gil, the former military secretary, publicly accused Braverman of criminal conduct, describing the alteration as part of a “pattern of criminal behavior” and suggesting it may have been intended to shape a narrative that the prime minister alone was acting at the crisis’s outset. Gil wrote a handwritten note to Attorney General Baharav-Miara documenting his concerns and urged the forthcoming state-comptroller inquiry to rely on original recordings rather than edited transcripts. Netanyahu’s Likud party dismissed the accusations as a “false blood libel” and reiterated the claim that had the prime minister been awakened earlier on October 7, “everything would look different.”
Potential Implications
If proven, the timestamp change could affect public understanding of the government’s early response to the October 7 attack and raise questions about internal information handling. The case also highlights broader concerns about record-keeping practices within the prime minister’s office and may influence future oversight mechanisms, especially as the state comptroller’s inquiry proceeds.