August 21, 2007
Stop that leak! Cell phones banned at Israeli cabinet meetings
Ministers in Israel -- where little news remains secret for long -- were notified on Tuesday that they would no longer be allowed to bring their cell phones to cabinet meetings, AFP reported.
"After directives issued by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, ministers will have to leave their cell phones with security guards before entering the room where a cabinet meeting will take place and will retrieve them upon leaving.
During the last cabinet meeting, Olmert berated an unnamed minister for talking on his mobile phone while the head of the Shin Beth domestic intelligence service was briefing the cabinet on sensitive security issues.
Leaks from government officials are a regular feature of political life in Israel, where even the most secret information ends up in print.
Senior officials have been known to call reporters and leave the cell phone running during meetings, so the journalists hear everything that goes on."
The Permanent Link to this page is: http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2007/08/016994.htm