Deeply scarred by a series of high-profile intelligence fiascos in the past year, Israel is desperately playing down the significance of a new affair - the indictments in Lebanon of dozens of suspects charged with spying for Israel on the Lebanese army, the Syrian army and Hizbullah.
Seventeen of the suspects were formally charged in Beirut on Thursday; another 60 are said to still be at large. If true, the case would represent the exposure of an enormously complex spy ring. And yet the Israeli media, which must get the approval of the military censor's office before publicising material relating to national security, is giving the affair almost no prominence.
A report on the filing of the indictments, carried on Thursday night's Channel 2 main news bulletin, for example, lasted precisely 26 seconds, and yesterday's newspapers buried the story inside.
Lebanon's military prosecutor, Mr Nasri Lahoud, alleges that the spy ring has been operating since 1995, having begun with the recruitment, and training in Israel, of two Lebanese citizens, who then gradually drew in others.
The network is said to have passed to Israel information on Syrian military activities inside Lebanon - Syria maintains a force there of some 35,000 troops - and on the operations of the Lebanese Army and Hizbullah, the pro-Iranian group that is fighting a low-level war to force Israel to withdraw its forces from south Lebanon.
The intelligence information, according to the prosecutor, was transferred in the mail, from Beirut, via a third party in Athens, and onto Israel.
The indictments allege that the spies were overseen by a unit named as "Department 504". Published reports in Israel confirm the existence of such a department - a unit of military intelligence responsible for running agents to collect information in Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.
Israel is continually seeking accurate information on Syrian army movements in Lebanon. Leaked intelligence assessments suggest that Israel fears a growing threat of war, involving Syria, because of the peace talks breakdown; it nearly went to war in 1996 because erroneous intelligence information suggested that Syria was mobilising its forces in Lebanon and on the Israel-Syria border for attack.
Subsequently, it emerged that the misinformation was being manufactured by a senior Mossad agent with right-wing political leanings. The exposure of this agent last year was only one of several intelligence embarrassments.