Absent-minded Israeli security official left CLASSIFIED documents at restaurant

Classified documents related to weapons deals were misplaced by an Israeli security official ahead of a trip to India, Haaretz reported. The sensitive docs were discovered at a restaurant where the Israeli delegation had dined.

National Security Adviser (NSA) Meir Ben Shabbat travelled with a delegation to India in January, where he met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indian security officials. The trip, however, reportedly got off to a bumpy start. Before getting on the plane, one of Shabbat’s aides left documents related to possible weapons deals with New Delhi at a restaurant where the group had dined.

The classified information was discovered by a waiter, who by chance had a friend whose mother works for the Israeli Embassy in India. The waiter’s friend then flew to New Delhi and gave her mother the documents, which she then passed on to the security officer at the embassy.

An investigation into the embarrassing oversight found that the temporarily-lost documents had not damaged Israel’s security. The aide accused of losing the documents was issued a warning.

“The incident was taken care of immediately, a security investigation was carried out and lessons were learned,” the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office told Haaretz.

Israel has had a streak of bad luck when it comes to protecting state secrets. In July, a thief drove off with a car belonging to an IDF military attaché. The car was later abandoned, but several items from inside the car had been stolen – including a laptop containing sensitive data.

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