Last week, the release of the Harpaz report rocked the entire country. The state comptroller revealed each and every one of the skeletons that was kept in the closets of Israel's military-political leadership — and there were many. Much has been said, broadcast and written about the highlights of the affair over the past three years since the discovery of the forged document known as the Harpaz document: the troubling relations between top military leaders and politicians, the no less troubling relations between figures at the top of the government and the reporters they court, about the poor norms and values of some of the people at the top of military command. The media focused on the scheme that was mapped out in the office of the chief of general staff to tarnish the reputation of Minister of Defense Barak and his aides, but ignored the most important finding in the report, which indicates that politics has penetrated into the IDF's most senior command.

The most scathing criticism in the report is leveled at Col. Erez Weiner, the aide to former Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi. The state comptroller reports how Weiner worked with Lt. Col. Boaz Harpaz (res.) to collect information against Defense Minister Ehud Barak, given the bad blood between both offices. According to the state comptroller, Weiner's conduct was improper, not in keeping with the spirit of the IDF and not appropriate for a senior officer.

And to think that the very same senior officer described this way by the state comptroller is the person the previous chief of staff appointed as chief education officer of the IDF. No more, no less. (The appointment was blocked by current Chief of Staff Benny Gantz following publication of the report, and a few days later Col. Weiner was forced to leave the army).

In a conversation to be quoted below, Col. Weiner tarnished the reputation of the IDF by maintaining strong ties with clearly political organizations. As can be seen in the transcription, Col. Weiner shares inside information with the former chief of staff regarding the monitoring performed by organizations such as “NGO Monitor” and “Im Tirtzu,” of the “New Israel Fund” [NIF], an organization that in Israel is associated with the left, and which operates lawfully in Israel and in Jewish communities around the world. The conversation between Weiner and Ashkenazi took place against the backdrop of a campaign of incitement at that time against the organization and its president at the time, Professor Naomi Chazan.