Departing MK, ex-Shin Bet chief, lied about military service report says

Yesh Atid MK Yaakov Peri falsely presented himself as having served in the IDF as a paratrooper for many years, TV show reveals.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Updated: FEBRUARY 9, 2018 19:53
Yaakov Peri (photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI)
Yaakov Peri
(photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI)
Former Yesh Atid MK Yaakov Peri did not serve in the IDF and lied about it, according to a report by the investigative TV show Uvda that aired on Wednesday night, hours after the ex-Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief resigned from the Knesset.
The report by Omri Assenheim said there was no evidence of Peri having served in the IDF, with the reason listed for his exemption being “permanently unfit.”
On the Knesset website, Peri, 73, is listed as having served as a paratrooper. He has talked about his IDF service in interviews and in his biography. He also said in a TV interview that after being injured, he briefly served in the IDF band. He refused to respond to questions from Assenheim.
Peri went on to become the head of the Shin Bet, as well as a Yesh Atid MK and science and technology minister in the previous government.
Earlier on Wednesday, Peri resigned from the Knesset and included what was a cryptic statement at the time, saying he “never hid the fact that health problems prevented me from completing full military service.”
Peri also referred to a previous report by Assenheim that claimed he leaked information about the investigation into alleged corruption by Interior Minister Arye Deri in the 1990s, and then failed four polygraph tests about the allegations.
“In the past months there are those who are trying to undermine my credibility and long years of service to the State of Israel,” he said. “Due to the fact that these one-sided publications are casting a heavy shadow on my long years of service for the security of Israel and on the values of Yesh Atid, I have decided to take time out from my public life and resign from the Knesset.”