Mofaz complains PM withholding information from c'tee

Shin Bet representative prevented once again from testifying before FADC on Eilat attacks; Rivlin to meet with Netanyahu, Mofaz on issue.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Shaul Mofaz 311 (R) (photo credit: REUTERS)
Shaul Mofaz 311 (R)
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Shaul Mofaz (Kadima) sent a letter of complaint to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Thursday after learning that Netanyahu would once again stop a Shin Bet representative from testifying before the committee.
The Shin Bet representative was summoned to this coming Sunday's Foreign Affairs and Defense Subcommittee for Intelligence meeting to discuss the intelligence available to the security agency before the terror attack on the Eilat border. As he did last Sunday, Netanyahu ordered the Shin Bet not to testify before the subcommittee.
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"According to the law and Knesset regulations, a Knesset committee may demand information from the government, and part of the government's role is to provide the information," Mofaz wrote.
"The Shin Bet representative is required to come to the committee and present whatever information he has on the meeting's topic," he wrote to Netanyahu. "However, as the minister responsible for the Shin Bet, you may address the committee instead."
Earlier this week, Mofaz said that Netanyahu was preventing the Knesset from supervising the executive branch of government by withholding information.
"We are in the middle of an investigation about an event that is not yet complete," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement Thursday night. "We are also in the middle of an event that may develop into further terrorist attacks, and we must allow security forces to stop them."
The Prime Minister's Office also explained that the relevant information had been relayed to other ministers.
The Ministry of Defense released a statement saying that an investigation is in progress, but it has no problem presenting the committee with information once it is completed.
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin plans to meet with Netanyahu and Mofaz on Sunday in an attempt to help them reach a compromise.