Yair Ramati, head of the Defense Ministry’s Homa Directorate, has been dismissed after it was found out that he stored classified materials on his personal computer.
Yair Ramati, head of the Homa (“defensive wall” in Hebrew -ed) Directorate in Israel’s Defense Ministry, has been dismissed after it was discovered that he stored classified materials on his personal computer. The projects Ramati led included interceptor missile system like the Iron Dome and Arrow.
Ramati was appointed in 2012, after serving as the vice president in charge of marketing for Israeli Aerospace Industries. He is considered to be a world-renowned expert in the field of rocket engineering.
Ramati’s dismissal was decided by the new Security Director of the Defense Ministry, Nir Ben Moshe. Ben Moshe’s people are currently investigating whether or not Ramati’s security protocol breach caused damage to national security. Ramati was fired just several days after a similar termination occurred in the IDF, when Colonel Ilan Levi of the Artillery Corps was dismissed when he left classified documents in his vehicle, which was then stolen.
The decision to fire Ramati came as a shock to many in the Defense Ministry and its affiliates, mostly due to his reputation and long-standing service in developing the field of Israeli aerial security for the past three decades. The timing of the firing is also sensitive: Ramati had just recently led the Arrow 3 project’s latest successful field experiment, as well as a series of experiments in the Magic Wand system, just weeks ahead of its delivery to the IAF.
As reported by Ynetnews