The relations between the IDF and Shin Bet have experienced ups and downs over the years, basically since the General Security Service began operating together with the army in the territories.

Now, the rift between the two security organizations has become public, it’s tainting the atmosphere and requires a clear decision by the prime minister.

In a letter he sent toBenjamin Netanyahu, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz is essentially demanding that the prime minister, who is the political figure in charge of the Shin Bet and its head, call Shin Ben chief Yoram Cohen to order and even reprimand him for violating the rules of discussion within the defense establishment and exposing security-related secrets.

The fact that the Shin Bet director permitted active members of the organization, including one of its senior officials, the head of the southern district, to give an interview, is a serious violation of the rules and even harms information security.

The IDF and Shin Bet have had serious differences of opinion, mainly over the areas of responsibility of the Military Intelligence Directorate. Sometimes, the Shin Bet would demand to operate and would even operate in the same intelligence professional areas or in the same geographic areas.

In one case, there was a dispute over who was responsible for intelligence in Gaza after the Oslo Agreements and after the IDF pulled out of most of the Palestinian population centers in the Strip. The prime minister eventually decided that it falls in the Shin Bet’s area of responsibility.

There were differences of opinion over the activity in Lebanon too. A main disagreement was whether the Shin Bet should have an electronic intelligence service like the Military Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 8200.

Read the article in full at Ynet.