Eisenkot asks attorney general to get him security briefings from Netanyahu

Gadi Eisenkot, the former Israeli military chief turned politician, has sent a letter to Israel's attorney general asking her to intervene so that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu provides him with security briefings, according to political commentator Amit Segal. Segal summarised the request as Eisenkot telling the attorney general to take action so that he would be kept updated on security matters by the prime minister on an ongoing basis.

N12, the news arm of Israel's Channel 12, reported through its correspondent Yaron Avraham that Eisenkot had approached the attorney general formally, seeking an urgent security update from Netanyahu, and that he had not received an answer. The news site News.co.il carried the same account of the letter, describing Eisenkot as taking aim in several directions at once.

Who Gadi Eisenkot is

Eisenkot served as chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the most senior uniformed post in the Israeli military, before entering politics. His background in the top tier of the security establishment is part of why access to classified briefings carries weight for him. The reports do not set out his current political position or the legal basis on which he is claiming a right to be briefed.

What the attorney general does

In Israel, the attorney general is the government's chief legal adviser and also heads the public prosecution. Hebrew news outlets often refer to the office by an abbreviation meaning "legal adviser to the government", and the reports use the feminine form, indicating that the post is currently held by a woman. Advice from the attorney general is generally treated as binding on government ministries, which is why politicians and officials who believe the government is not meeting an obligation sometimes write to the office asking it to step in. A letter of this kind is a request; it does not by itself compel the prime minister to do anything.

A letter that follows a Channel 12 report

Both N12 items present the approach as coming after an earlier exclusive by Channel 12 News, though they do not describe what that report contained. Segal and News.co.il both say Eisenkot wrote to the attorney general "also", which implies that this letter was one of more than one he has sent on the matter. None of the reports identifies the other recipient or recipients.

Where the accounts differ

The reports agree on the core facts: Eisenkot wrote to the attorney general, and what he wants is to be briefed on security by Netanyahu. They differ in two details.

• Ongoing or urgent. Segal and News.co.il describe the request as one for a regular, continuing security update. N12 describes it as a demand for an urgent update. These are not necessarily contradictory, but the reports characterise the request differently.
• Who made the approach. N12's first version of its report said that people around Eisenkot had approached the attorney general. Within minutes the outlet replaced that wording with an edited version stating that Eisenkot himself had made the formal approach. Segal and News.co.il also attribute the letter to Eisenkot directly.

Only N12 reports that the request has gone unanswered. The other two outlets do not address whether there has been a response.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports quotes the letter itself or says when it was sent. There is no response reported from the attorney general's office or from the Prime Minister's Office, and no account of whether Netanyahu has briefed Eisenkot at any point. The reports also do not explain what security developments prompted the request, what the earlier Channel 12 exclusive revealed, or to whom else Eisenkot has written.