Netanyahu adviser arrested over hostage talks in Gaza

Arrests. Secret documents. And alleged leaks that may have damaged efforts to free hostages held by Hamas, critics say, provide public cover for Benjamin Netanyahu for not agreeing to a ceasefire deal. Israel's prime minister was embroiled in a scandal involving one of his aides on Monday that sent shockwaves across the country.

The firestorm, which emerged when an Israeli court relaxed a silence order on Sunday evening, angered Netanyahu's political opponents and hostage families. Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing and distanced himself from the case. But critics have claimed the Israeli leader risked the lives of hostages and national security to bolster his hardline position in the stalled ceasefire negotiations by leaking Gaza documents to friendly media.

In a ruling on Sunday, the Rishon Le-Zion District Court said that an investigation had been opened after suspicions arose among the Israel Defense Forces and Israel Security Service Shin Bet that “secret and sensitive information” had been illegally seized by IDF- systems.

The action, the court said, may have not only caused “serious damage to state security and endangering intelligence sources” but also harmed “the goal of releasing the hostages” captured during Hamas' October 7 terrorist attack . 2023 terror Attacks.

The court identified the main suspect in the case as Eliezer Feldstein, who Israeli media reported was said to be one of Netanyahu's media advisers.

Next to Feldstein, Three other people who the court described as “inmates involved in the activities” were interviewed but have yet to be publicly identified by the court.

Israeli media have reported that the alleged leaked information formed the basis of several articles about Hamas' approach to the hostage crisis, including an article by the London-based Jewish Chronicle that was later retracted after widespread criticism. NBC News could not immediately independently confirm this reporting.

The Jewish Chronicle article suggested that Hamas was planning to expel hostages from the Gaza Strip via Egypt, while a separate article in the German newspaper Bild reported that Hamas was using negotiations for a ceasefire agreement as a form of psychological warfare against Israel delay.

Both articles drew skepticism from Israeli observers because they were timed and appeared to give Netanyahu cover when he was accused of deliberately sabotaging the ceasefire negotiations.

“There was something very suspicious about them. Also about the timing of everything,” Crisis Group senior analyst for Israel Mairav ​​Zonszein said in a telephone interview with NBC News on Monday.

The Jewish Chronicle and Bild did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.

The reports emerged as Netanyahu insisted on Israeli control of the Philadelphia Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border, a demand that became a key point of contention in the ceasefire talks. They also came as the Israeli leader faced growing outrage from hostage families and much of the country's public over his failure to agree to a ceasefire deal following the deaths of six hostages killed in Hamas captivity.

While Israeli media reported some details of the investigation last week and the silence order was partially lifted, crucial and explosive allegations were only revealed on Sunday.

In a statement before the ruling, Netanyahu's office said that the materials suspected of being leaked never reached the Prime Minister's Office from the Military Intelligence Directorate and that Netanyahu learned of the document in question from the media.

It added that the adviser implicated in the alleged leaks “never took part in security discussions, was not exposed or received confidential information and did not take part in secret visits.”

But political opponents, hostage families and critics expressed outrage at the possible involvement of an employee of the prime minister.

“I am again disappointed but not surprised by this government,” said Jonathan Dekel-Chen, whose son Sagui was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7.

“I feel completely betrayed, not only as a hostage father, but also as an Israeli citizen,” he said in a telephone interview with NBC News on Monday.

Dekel-Chen said that if the allegations made in the investigation are true, it would be the latest in a “long line” of moments in which Netanyahu's government has “invented reasons not to move forward with the negotiation process.”

Gil Dickmann's cousin Carmel Gat was one of six hostages killed in Hamas captivity – an incident that sparked nationwide outrage shortly before the media reports were published.

He pointed to the timing but said it “didn't work” if the intention was to sway public opinion, pointing to large demonstrations in the following days aimed at pressuring Netanyahu for a ceasefire to reach.

In a statement, the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, which represents the families of those still in Hamas captivity, expressed “outrage and deep concern” over the possibility that at least one Netanyahu associate “may have worked to prevent the to undermine public support” for an agreement.

Benny Gantz, who resigned from Netanyahu's now-dissolved war cabinet in June, said in a post on Crime.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid dismissed claims from Netanyahu's office that the Israeli prime minister was previously unaware of the alleged leaked materials.

“If Netanyahu didn’t know that his close associates were stealing documents, harboring spies within the IDF, forging documents, exposing intelligence sources, and leaking secret documents to the foreign press to prevent the hostage deal, then what does he *know?” Lapid said in a post on X.

Zonszein, Crisis Group's senior Israel analyst, said that even if Netanyahu had not been directly involved, the alleged leak would have come from a “well-oiled machine” already accustomed to gathering sensitive information and manipulating it for political purposes .

However, she said this was “not a surprise at all.”

“I think for the people who are already convinced that Netanyahu played with the public consciousness and had no interest in a hostage deal, this is just further evidence,” she said.