Israeli officer dismissed for losing top-secret files in parking lot
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A senior Israeli reserves officer, Brig. Gen. (res.) Erez Winner, was dismissed after losing classified military documents in a parking lot, marking another major security breach.
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An Israeli army tank maneuvers in southern occupied Palestine, on Sunday, October 20, 2024. (AP)
A senior Israeli reserves officer has been dismissed after losing classified documents he took from the Southern Command in a parking lot in Ramat Gan, the military announced.
Brig. Gen. (res.) Erez Winner, who served as commander of the operational planning team in the Southern Command—a wartime role—was dismissed from reserve duty by Maj. Gen. Yaniv Asor, the newly appointed chief of the Southern Command.
The Israeli military described the incident, in which Winner took classified materials and dropped them while exiting his car, as a “severe operational security violation.” Israeli military Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir endorsed his dismissal.
Despite the security breach, Asor acknowledged Winner’s service, stating, “We thank him for his many years of service and volunteerism, and in particular for his significant contribution during the last 17 months of fighting… in which he worked day and night for the security of the State of Israel.”
Yet another security scandal
Winner’s name has also been linked to another controversy. Last week, Kan public broadcaster reported that he was routinely leaking information to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also holds a ministerial role in the Security Ministry.
This is not the first time Winner has faced scrutiny. Over a decade ago, he was accused of illegally gathering and distributing materials to discredit senior Israeli military officials and politicians during an internal succession battle.
As a result, he was arrested, questioned, and removed from the army in 2013 after his planned promotion was canceled—though he was never formally charged.
Remaining active in the reserves, Winner was promoted to brigadier-general in 2018. During the Israeli war on Gaza in 2014, he was also accused of secretly relaying information about Israeli military deployments and findings to Naftali Bennett—then an ally of Smotrich—via an unauthorized back channel.
