‘Not a breach of security’: Israel concludes after paperwork on India weapons sales lost

Israeli probe concludes no damage was done to national security following loss, retrieval of confidential documents on arms deal

A delegation from Israel’s National Security Council forgot top-secret documents about an arms deal in a restaurant in Ben Gurion Airport, Israeli media outlets reported, added that the documents were later found by coincidence and that an investigation found that the temporary loss of the documents did not harm the country’s security.

The delegation, which was headed by National Security Advisor Meir Ben Shabbat, lost the documents in mid-January before flying to India to take part in talks on bilateral weapons deals. The Israeli delegation met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who also had a phone conversation with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu during the visit.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that “Israel wishes to sell India several advanced weapons manufactured by defence industries, such as spy planes, unmanned aircraft, anti-tank missiles, cannons and radar systems.”

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While the Israeli news website, Times of Israel, described India as “one of Israel’s leading customers for arms.”

The secret documents were found by a waiter at the airport restaurant where the delegation was dining. Upon finding the documents, the waiter called a friend whose mother worked at the Israeli embassy in India. The waiter’s friend travelled to India and gave the documents to her mother, who handed the documents to a security officer at the embassy, Haaretz reported.

Netanyahu’s Chief of Staff Yoav Horowitz led a team that carried out an investigation into the incident. The investigation found that “the sensitive material had not been exposed to anyone who was a danger to the country,” according to Times of Israel.