Over the last two weeks, there have been two leaks of tapes of party leader Benny Gantz making controversial statements that have harmed the campaign.
By GIL HOFFMANBenny Gantz, head of Blue and White party, leans forward as his party candidate Gabi Ashkenazi stands nearby during a visit to Kibbutz Kfar Aza, outside the northern Gaza Strip, in southern Israel March 13, 2019(photo credit: AMIR COHEN/REUTERS)
The Blue and White Party is conducting an internal investigation to find out if there is a “mole” in their campaign who has been leaking taped private conversations to the media, sources in the party said on Wednesday, confirming a story in the Yediot Aharonot newspaper.Over the last two weeks, there have been two leaks of tapes of party leader Benny Gantz making controversial statements that have harmed the campaign.The first was on March 17, when Gantz said on tape that he had closed but not locked the door to joining a government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The second was this Sunday, when Gantz said that Netanyahu would kill him if he could and that the Russians might have tapped his phone.“We must check how such conversations are being leaked from our campaign headquarters,” a very senior party official was quoted as saying by the newspaper. “These are very serious incidents.”The officials said the probe would remain internal for now and not involve polygraph tests of candidates or campaign staff.Sources in the Russian embassy told the Israel Hayom newspaper that Gantz’s statement on tape about the Russians hacking into his phone was “nonsense.”There have been reports of leaking “moles” in campaigns in every Knesset election in Israel over the past 20 years. Blue and White officials said they hoped the matter would be resolved soon.Channel 12 reported that in Blue and White, they believe the leaks did not come from a person but from a listening device operated from afar.
