IDF chief revealed to be mystery figure at center of credit card theft

The military court in Jaffa lifted a gag order on Sunday revealing the identity of a senior Israel Defense Forces official whose credit card data was stolen by a soldier last month and transferred to an Arab Israeli. The court revealed that the victim of the theft was IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi.

The credit card number was used in the purchase of items worth some NIS 2,000, all bought at a store in the Sharon region where the Arab Israeli suspect is employed. The store employee is also suspected of having purchased two M-16 rifles from the soldier, who allegedly stole the rifles and a decorative handgun from the chief of staff's office.

The gun was not functional, and had been given to Ashkenazi as a gift for display purposes.

During questioning, the soldier suspected of stealing the items said that the credit card information was taken from him by force, and that he was not the only soldier stationed at that base who knew the chief of staff's credit card information.

The investigation into the incident exposed serious lapses in the arrangements for protecting Ashkenazi.

The army said the arrested soldier had served as a guard at the base housing the General Staff, so security was being significantly stepped up around the chief of staff.

Along with the security provided by the General Staff Security Unit, a number of positions on the office's security perimeter are still being carried out by regular troops assigned to guard duty. These troops are not required to go through rigorous combat training, nor are their backgrounds substantially screened.

The Military Police's investigation revealed that the suspect had been involved in fights and a stabbing, and had piled up debts to underworld figures.

Sometimes the soldier was assigned to guard the office during the day, while a female soldier ascertained visitors' identities. During the night, however, the soldier guarded the door on his own.

An unofficial security procedure was in place at the office allowing the night guards to prepare drinks in a kitchenette very near the office of the senior officer.

Security cameras provided some added security, but the person in charge of the cameras was the security guard at the door and the recordings were not kept for the long term, so there was no real surveillance of the guards on night duty.

The investigation has shown that the suspect managed to get as far as the desk of the officer's secretary. From there he is believed to have gotten to the credit card, copied it using the camera in his mobile phone, and sent the details to an Arab-Israeli underworld figure with whom he had worked at a supermarket and to whom he owed money.

The IDF admitted that the soldier could have easily planted listening devices or a bomb in the secretary's office without being detected.

However, army sources said the soldier had no access to sensitive security information because such material is kept in special closets in locked offices after work is completed.

Senior IDF sources told Haaretz that access to Ashkenazi's office would be the "dream of any intelligence organization" and that fortunately those involved were motivated by criminal and not security considerations.

The entire affair was uncovered after the theft of two M-16 rifles from the compound in April and July. In the case of the second rifle the soldier is suspected of attacking a guard at the base; with the help of his brother he took the guard's weapon. Evidence at the site led to the soldier's arrest.

Military Police investigators cross-checked other information and concluded that the soldier had also been involved in the theft of the first rifle.

A search of the soldier's mobile phone led to the uncovering of the photograph of the senior officer's credit card and the subsequent investigation.