The Israeli government on Sunday rejected claims in leaked Pentagon Papers that leaders of its Mossad foreign intelligence service supported nationwide protests against a proposed reform of Israel’s judicial system, The Washington.Post reported, citing News.ro.

The world of American secret services was turned upside down for several days after the discovery of dozens of classified documents, most of which appear to be genuine, published on social networks. Authorities are now investigating the source of the leak, but in the meantime, revelations are emerging that are apparently disconcerting even allies.

Thus, The New York Times reported on Saturday about a document that would be an updated CIA assessment from March 1, according to which the leadership of the Mossad – Israel’s foreign intelligence service – is encouraging its personnel and Israeli citizens to join the protests. massively to the government. The paper notes that while the leaked documents appeared to be genuine, that does not mean they are accurate.

In itself, direct intervention in Israeli politics by the Mossad, a foreign intelligence agency prohibited from meddling in domestic affairs, would be a significant revelation. And the fact that the information surfaced, apparently as a result of American spying on its closest ally in the Middle East, could further inflame a period of unprecedented domestic political turmoil in Israel, The Washington Post notes.

“If true, this is a dramatic change in procedure by Mossad leadership that puts Israel in unprecedented territory,” said Nathan Sachs, an Israel researcher at the Brookings Institution. “This is a sign of how far the Netanyahu coalition has pushed Israeli society and how high the stakes are,” he commented.

Reaction of the Israeli government to Netanyahu: “False information and baseless”

On Sunday, the Israeli prime minister’s office released a statement on behalf of the Mossad, calling media reports about the document “false and baseless.”

“The Mossad and its senior officials in office were not at all involved in the cause of the demonstrations and were committed to the value of serving the state that had run the Mossad since its inception,” the statement said.

The US National Security Council, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the State Department declined to comment on the leaked Israeli document on Saturday. Defense Department spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said Friday that the leak was under review. The Department of Justice, for its part, announced that it had opened an investigation, writes The Washington Post.

The Israeli government’s plan to overhaul the judiciary has sparked unprecedented public anger since a coalition of ultra-conservative and religious parties came to power late last year and alarmed Israel’s Western allies. The proposed law would allow parliament to overturn Supreme Court decisions and control the appointment of judges. After weeks of intensifying demonstrations, Netanyahu relented in late March and said he would delay the contested reforms to allow for compromise talks with opposition parties.