Alleged Netanyahu leak may have damaged Gaza hostage-taking deal, court says Benjamin Netanyahu

An alleged intelligence leak from Benjamin Netanyahu's office has become a major scandal for the Israeli prime minister after a court partially lifted a gag order in the case, saying the affair may have undermined hostage-taking efforts in the Gaza war undermined.

A court in the city of Rishon LeZion said on Sunday evening that four people had been arrested in connection with the joint investigation by the police, internal security services and the army.

The main suspect was named Eliezer Feldstein, who, according to Israeli media, was hired as a spokesman and media adviser in the Prime Minister's Office shortly after the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023. The other three people to be arrested are members of the security forces.

A partial gag order is still in effect, but the case involves a “breach of national security caused by the unlawful provision of classified information” that “impaired the achievement of Israel's war aims,” ​​the court said on Friday .

The suspects are accused of being involved in leaking Hamas strategy documents found by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Gaza and manipulating or editing the material to make it appear that the militant leadership Palestinian group planned to delay the talks as long as possible and to smuggle hostages into Egypt.

Reports apparently based on the manipulated documents appeared in the British magazine Jewish Chronicle and the German tabloid Bild in September, prompting the IDF to launch an investigation. The Jewish Chronicle later retracted the story and fired the journalist who wrote it.

Netanyahu's critics say the articles came at a time when he has faced renewed criticism over his handling of negotiations after six hostages were found dead in a tunnel in Rafah.

The reports also appear to have backed Netanyahu's new demand in the talks, after a conditional framework had already been reached – that Israeli troops remain on the Gaza-Egypt border. The demand was rejected by Hamas and the talks failed.

Netanyahu has long been accused of delaying the deal to appease his far-right coalition partners, for whom any concession to Hamas is untenable. It is believed that he sees remaining in office as the best way to avoid prosecution over long-standing corruption allegations, although he denies this.

In a statement on Monday, the Hostage Families Forum, which represents most of the friends and relatives of the abductees, called for an investigation “against all persons suspected of sabotage and undermining state security.”

It continues: “Suspicion suggests that people associated with the Prime Minister have perpetrated one of the largest frauds in the country's history.” This is a moral low point like no other. It is a serious blow to the remaining trust between the government and its citizens.”

Netanyahu has tried to downplay the matter by calling for the silence order to be lifted and accusing the judiciary of bias. On Saturday, he denied any involvement in the leak or any wrongdoing by his employees. The prime suspect, Feldstein, “never participated in security negotiations, received any classified information, or participated in secret visits,” his office said.

Questions have arisen about whether Feldstein was officially employed in the Prime Minister's Office after reports emerged claiming he had failed a lie detector test for security clearance; He has been photographed next to Netanyahu many times in the past year.

The 32-year-old from the ultra-Orthodox Tel Aviv suburb of Bnei Berak previously worked for the right-wing extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and in the IDF's media department.

Feldstein was arrested on October 27 and will remain in custody until Tuesday, the day of his next hearing. One of the other three suspects appears to have been released.

The charges of leaking classified information, negligence in handling the material and using it to influence public opinion could result in a 15-year prison sentence, news site ynet reported.