Israel's Defence Minister has accused an organisation of soldiers and ex-soldiers of treason.

Moshe Ya'alon made the claim on Monday about the work of Breaking the Silence, a controversial left-wing group that collects testimonies from soldiers about conduct witnessed during army service that they deem unacceptable.

Mr Ya'alon used the word "treason" several times, saying that it described the group whether it was disseminating its testimonies to the public or even just keeping sensitive information to itself.

Breaking the Silence said that Mr Ya'alon's argument was largely moot as any testimonies that are released are first passed by the military censor.

The group's spokesman, Yehuda Shaul, said that it was interested in testimonies on soldiers' conduct, not sensitive intelligence. Mr Ya'alon's accusation came just after Israeli television showed footage of a right-wing activist who approached Breaking the Silence undercover with a false testimony and purported to divulge sensitive information about Israel's Syrian front.

Mr Shaul said that as the undercover activist initiated the contact and his investigator treated the information cautiously, identified that it was false and refrained from publishing it, Mr Ya'alon's comments were "crazy".