Netanyahu defends choice of Shalit negotiator amid corruption rumors

The Prime Minister's Bureau on Tuesday defended its choice of a former top intelligence operative to head negotiations for the release of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, despite rumors linking him to a corruption scandal.

Former Mossad agent Haggai Hadas was recently named to take over negotiations in a prisoner swap deal for Shalit, who has been in Palestinian captivity since he was abducted in a 2006 cross-border raid from the Gaza Strip.

Hadas is the director of SafeSky Software, a company which on Monday announced that it had sold 37% of its Life Keeper subsidiary to the British-Taiwanese technology firm Micro-Star International for $370 million, reflecting a value of $1 billion for Life Keeper.

Rumors linking Hadas to corruption emerged after TheMarker revealed Tuesday that SafeSky and MicroStar have been engaging in Internet communication using fraudulent domain names.

SafeSky and Micro-Star allegedly corresponded using email addresses all ending with the extension "msiuk.net". An Internet search revealed that the domain is not held by Micro-Star International, but rather by Arik Klein, SafeSky's co-owner and founder.

Klein is suspected of acquiring the domain name and using it to manage fake entities that kept up correspondence with Life Keeper's management, attorneys and accountant. The search also revealed that Klein, using an address in Paris, is registered as holding nine separate domain names.

Klein and Dr. Amos Bouchnik each own 50 percent of SafeSky. But it appears that Klein has also set up Hadas and SafeSky CEO Dr. Gavriel Picker, a close friend of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Prime Minister's Bureau said in response to the allegations that Hadas is a respected member of Israel's intelligence community, and that his "private affairs" had no bearing on his appointment to lead negotiations.

"Haggai Hadas has been active on behalf of Israel's security and the intelligence community for many years. It was on this basis that he was chosen to deal with the negotiations for the release of Gilad Shalit," a spokesman for the prime minister said.

"Mr. Hadas' private affairs, including his business activity, are his personal responsibility and are carried out with his knowledge alone, and are entirely unrelated to his public role."

Hadas will be heading to Egypt in the coming days for his first visit as negotiater in the Shalit affair.

(Barak Ravid contributed to this report.)