AVIV TEL One of Benjamin Netanyahu’s advisers has been charged by Israeli authorities with unlawfully disclosing confidential intelligence in an effort to quell growing criticism of the prime minister’s handling of the hostage situation in Gaza.
The aide was arrested and imprisoned as a result of the accusations, which are described in recently made public court documents and are part of a criminal investigation that has shocked Israel’s administration. In relation to the matter, four military men have also been taken into custody.
According to prosecutors, investigators found that a low-level Israeli soldier had unlawfully taken Hamas papers out of a military database and given them to Netanyahu’s communications consultant Eli Feldstein.
According to the prosecution’ files, which were released on Sunday, Feldstein, 32, then attempted to have the documents publicized in the media in order to demonstrate that the hostage families’ protests were benefiting Hamas.
Prosecutors said that Feldstein’s actions were intended to sway Israeli public opinion on the hostage negotiations, specifically on the question of whether the protests helped Hamas gain strength.
According to a police official who spoke to NBC News, their filings followed the questioning of Netanyahu’s chief of staff as part of a separate inquiry into claims that he attempted to alter official phone logs from the day of the October 7 terror attack.
In both cases, Netanyahu has not been directly charged with any misconduct, and his office refutes the accusations, claiming that they are the work of politically motivated security personnel seeking to topple the government.
The German tabloid Bild published a story in early September based on hacked Hamas data, which sparked the leak probe, which is known in Israeli media as BibiLeaks, after the prime minister’s nickname, Bibi.
The journal said it gained access to documents from Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s personal computer. Sinwar was later murdered by Israeli soldiers in October.
According to the Bild story, the records demonstrated that Hamas was not interested in a hasty cease-fire and thought that Israel’s bargaining position would be weakened by the hostage families’ objections.
The tale came out at a time when Israel’s public was furious with Netanyahu after Hamas killed six captives, including Israeli American Hersh Goldberg Polin, in late August.
Days after it was released, Netanyahu used the essay as proof that Hamas intended to exert pressure on the Israeli government and employ psychological warfare against the hostage families.
However, the release of the tale raised concerns within the Israeli military. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed that the document Bild quoted was several months old and was authored by a mid-level Hamas official rather than Sinwar.
Military authorities summoned the Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic security agency, and the police to initiate an investigation into the top-secret document leak.
Prosecutors claimed in Sunday’s files that Feldstein circumvented the local censor by providing the material to the German daily Bild after Israeli media refused to publish it due to military censorship regulations. NBC News was informed by a Bild representative that the publication does not address its sourcing.
Late in October, Feldstein was taken into custody. Along with three other military members, the Israeli soldier who was accused of giving him access to the paper has also been taken into custody, according to the prosecution.
According to Israeli jail officials, Feldstein was put under suicide watch on Monday.
Netanyahu’s office pointed NBC News to a statement from November 12 when asked to comment on Sunday’s court filings, claiming that police had used exceptional powers only available in national security situations to keep Feldstein in isolation and prevent him from seeing a lawyer.
According to his office, it really pains us that young people’s lives are being damaged by baseless accusations meant to undermine the right-wing government. In a democratic nation, people are not detained for 20 days in basements for leaking information, and they are not denied the opportunity to speak with a lawyer for many days in order to coerce them into making false accusations against the prime minister.
Netanyahu has a history of criticizing Israeli police. He was the first prime minister in the history of the nation to face criminal charges while in office in 2019.
He claims the case is politically motivated and refutes the long list of accusations of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. His attorneys have made repeated attempts to postpone the trial by pointing to his leadership duties throughout the battle.
In a statement released on Monday, the Hostage Family Forum expressed its disgust at the continued attempts by those close to the prime minister to thwart a possible hostage agreement.
Regarding the discussions to rescue those captured by Hamas during the October 7 terror incidents, the advocacy group that stands up for hostages and their families has frequently chastised Netanyahu and his administration. Although around a third are thought to be dead, about 100 people are still in captivity.
Additionally, police are looking into claims made against Netanyahu’s chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman. According to a police officer briefed on the investigation, Braverman was questioned for several hours last week but has not been charged or detained.
According to the official, police are investigating allegations that Braverman fabricated phone logs from the early hours of October 7. The purported changes seem to have been made to give the impression that Netanyahu moved faster than he actually did.
According to the official, Braverman allegedly directed an aide to alter phone records so that a discussion that was recorded as having taken place at 6.40 a.m. actually happened 11 minutes earlier, at 6.29 a.m. Then, in a handwritten note, Braverman updated the log himself.
Prosecutors will now decide whether to press charges after the police investigation is finished.
Braverman’s lawyer, Jack Chen, told NBC News that the incident arose from a miscommunication on the sequence of the phone calls in the hectic early hours of the Hamas attack. He claimed that once Braverman told the police about the mistake, they freed him with no restrictions.
While not responding directly to Braverman’s inquiries, Netanyahu’s staff cited a previous remark the prime minister made on November 10.
Netanyahu stated at the time, “My office has been under a wild and unrestrained attack for the past few days.” Protecting the state’s security is not the aim. The intention is to advance a wartime agenda of concessions and weakness.
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