Occupied JerusalemJournalist Gadi Weitz, who serves as head of the investigations and reporting department at Haaretz newspaper, commented on the scandal of security leaks from the Prime Minister’s Office. Benjamin Netanyahusaying that it “reveals another side of the world of lies that Netanyahu lives in.”
Weitz believes the leak to the German newspaper behind Eli Feldstein, who served as spokesman for the Prime Minister’s Office, arose from Netanyahu’s constant need to control the narrative in everything related to the hostage deal negotiations.
He explained that the escalation of Israeli protests demanding an exchange deal and the return of detainees in Gaza increased the need for Netanyahu to collect secret materials that would serve the desired narrative of failing the negotiations, indicating that those close to Netanyahu may have realized the crisis he is going through due to neglecting the detainees file.
Thus, Weitz says, “the idea of publishing false reports and baseless information crystallized, perhaps the most prominent of which is that President Hamas movement Yahya Al-Sanwar He draws encouragement and hardening of his positions from the demonstrations against the Israeli government.”
The issue of recent security leaks divides Israelis into two familiar camps: Netanyahu’s followers and his opponents. Even before any details were allowed to be published, rumors were that it was a “political investigation,” while in the anti-Prime Minister camp, the case was described in terms of “treason.” Below, this report reviews the scenes of the most serious security leak case plaguing Israel.
What are the most prominent suspicions in the case?
The main suspicions were related, starting with 3 of the detainees in the case, two members of the security establishment, and Feldstein, who served as spokesman for the Prime Minister’s Office. The suspicions revolved around leaking and publishing confidential and sensitive information from the security apparatus without any authority, and tampering with the information and leaking it to foreign media. .
According to suspicions, members of the security apparatus leaked sensitive information from the Israeli army’s archive systems in contravention of the law, creating a fear of serious harm to the state’s security and a danger to the sources of information.
Secret documents and information reached Feldstein, and through him, the information was manipulated and transferred to foreign media, where it was used in a way that served Netanyahu’s office and his narrative regarding everything related to the negotiations on the deal to exchange Israeli detainees and Palestinian prisoners.
Who are the detainees?
Initially, 4 people suspected of involvement in providing information and leaking it to the media were arrested, but the court released one of them yesterday, Sunday, knowing that they serve in the same unit whose main mission is to preserve documents and secrets and prevent their leakage.
The Public Security Service arrestedShin BetOn Monday, another suspect in the case, a reserve officer in the Israeli army, was identified.
Feldstein began working in Netanyahu’s office a few days after the war began Gazadespite his failure in the security background check conducted by the Shin Bet. Therefore, he was not officially appointed a government employee or external consultant, and was responsible for communication between military correspondents and the office.
What information is at the heart of the document leak case?
In early September, the German newspaper Bild published a report on a document attributed to Hamas, which Israeli army forces allegedly found in the Gaza Strip.
According to the report, the document, which dates back to the spring of 2024, details Hamas’ strategy regarding the issue of Israeli detainees, and included pressure on their families, and thus on the public in Israel and the government to accept the exchange deal.
The report claimed that Hamas itself was not seeking a quick end to the fighting, and the report stated that the document was located on a computer that allegedly belonged to Yahya Sinwar.
Netanyahu adopted the publication in the German newspaper, and used it to suggest that the Israeli demonstrators demanding the release of detainees were “falling into Hamas’ trap.”
Why did military censorship prohibit the publication of classified information?
Israeli Channel 12 reported that this secret information and documents were banned from being published in Israel by military censors before being published in the Bild newspaper, for fear of harming state security. Two days after its publication, the Israeli army announced that it had opened an investigation into the suspicion of leaking the document to foreign media.
The army announcement stated that the leaked document was found by Israeli army forces in the Gaza Strip, and was found written in the form of a recommendation from a mid-ranking commander in Hamas. The Israeli army did not mention that the document belonged to Sinwar or issued by him.
How did Netanyahu use the leaked information to serve his narrative and agenda?
In the same week last September, Netanyahu referred to another report in the international media, this time in the British newspaper “Jewish Chronicle,” which turned out to be a false report and the information it contained was baseless.
The British newspaper reported in its report that Sinwar was planning to smuggle himself and Israeli hostages out of the Gaza Strip via Philadelphia Axis.
This report was carried by all major media outlets in Israel that evening, and it seemed to give validity to Netanyahu’s claim that there was a fear that Hamas would try to smuggle the kidnapped people to EgyptHence, Israel must insist on a military presence in the Philadelphia axis.
How true is Netanyahu’s claim that the arrested speaker was not present in the security discussions?
Throughout the year, Feldstein was among Netanyahu’s inner circle of advisors, Haaretz reported, staying with him for meetings, some of them secret, and frequently accompanying him during the war, including visits to security facilities and sensitive discussions, which contradicts the Prime Minister’s Office’s claim. Who said he “never participated in security discussions, received no classified information, and did not participate in secret visits.”
Indeed, Feldstein, says the newspaper’s correspondent Bar Belg, “was documented alongside the prime minister on visits to military bases, including on the way to discussions to assess the situation with the chief of staff and senior military officials, as well as in numerous government meetings.”
Sources who spoke to Haaretz reported that Feldstein was also present during visits to sensitive bases and security discussions in the Prime Minister’s Office. According to one source, Netanyahu was aware that Feldstein was serving in the office despite his failure in security classification procedures.
Why did you decide to investigate the leak of documents?
Israeli security reports talk about the seriousness of the current issue of using sensitive internal information of the security establishment, which could have endangered Israeli intelligence sources. This is in contrast to other leaks, most of which referred to intelligence materials of other types, or to secret protocols and discussions on the Israeli side.
In addition, there is an assessment that the leaked information was manipulated to distort some details in an attempt to influence the public’s position in Israel, according to what was reported by Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
The Information Security Department in the Israeli army began investigating the leak of information following publications in Bild and the Jewish Chronicle, where documents and information were transferred to sources outside the security apparatus without authority, and without informing the relevant responsible authorities in the security apparatus.
The detained security personnel are suspected of leaking confidential documents and information to Feldstein, and he does not have an appropriate security classification, as he is suspected of transmitting sensitive information to foreign media in a way that could harm the exchange deal negotiations.
Could the case also affect Netanyahu?
It is expected that as the investigation progresses, investigators will try to understand if what There was a person who gave the order to collect secret documents and pass them on to foreign media, and if suspicion arose that other officials in the Prime Minister’s Office were involved in transmitting information, they could be called in for questioning, Maariv reported.
The newspaper reported that Netanyahu’s chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman, and the prime minister’s close advisor, Yonatan Oresh, arrived for consultations at the office of lawyer Amit Haddad, who also serves as Netanyahu’s defense lawyer.
According to preliminary investigations, it appears that there is no information directly linking Netanyahu to the leak, and it is not clear whether what He was aware of this, but Netanyahu adopted the post based on the leaked information and used it to claim that those protesting for the release of detainees had “fallen into Hamas’ trap.”
