Erdan Demands ‘Immediate’ Investigation Into Gantz’s Role at High-Tech Company

israel government, gantz government, israel elections
Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz. (Reuters/Amir Cohen/File)

New documents uncovered by Yisrael Hayom pose further questions on the relationship between Israel Police and a high-tech company chaired by Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz. As a result of the new revelations, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan on Thursday demanded that an immediate investigation into the ties between the police and Gantz be opened.

The documents show that the Public Security Ministry, which supervises the activities of the police, specifically required contracts of NIS 50 million or more with outside agencies to be approved by the ministry’s financial department. The police ignored that requirement, and made the deal with the company, Hameimad Hachamishi (the Fifth Dimension).

The documents intensify the questions that have surrounded the relationship between the police and the company led by Gantz through the end of 2018, when it went bankrupt. Last March, a report by the State Comptroller focused on similar issues, with police signing contracts with the company without going through a required tender process. Under the contracts, Hameimad Hachamishi sold cybersecurity technology to police.  Israel Police was Hameimad Hachamishi’s only customer.

The Comptroller’s report featured no fewer than 18 instances in which police purchased goods and services without going through the required tender process, said Shlomo Raz, a spokesperson for the State Comptroller’s Office.

Immediately upon the release of the Comptroller’s report, the Likud demanded an investigation into the deal. State Attorney Avichai Mandelblit said at the time that such an investigation was “unlikely.” Erdan said that in light of the new revelations, an investigation should be opened “today. The truth must come out, and these new documents provide a perfect backdrop for that to happen. There is no reason that the State Attorney should have left this languishing for 10 months. The public needs to know before the elections whether a criminal investigation into Gantz and other suspicious individuals in these incidents is going to be opened,” he added.

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