Israeli media announced the extension of the detention of Eli Feldstein, the main suspect in the case of leaking documents in the Prime Minister’s Office Benjamin Netanyahuuntil next Sunday.
Feldstein’s name – a spokesman for Netanyahu – was highlighted by a judge – the day before yesterday, Sunday – as the main suspect in the case, and that Netanyahu is not a suspect in it.
Five Israelis – including four soldiers, one of whom is an officer – are under investigation on charges of leaking documents attributed to the head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (agitation) Yahya Al-Sanwar To foreign media.
Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper pointed out that 4 of the five detainees serve in a secret unit whose goal is to prevent leaks and protect security secrets, noting that among these detainees is a reserve officer with the rank of major who was arrested by the Shin Bet, yesterday, Monday, and his detention in court was extended until next Thursday.
This comes at a time when The Times of Israel reported that investigators suspect that stealing secret intelligence documents from the Israeli army and delivering them to people in the Prime Minister’s Office was a systematic and repeated act.
The newspaper explained that the document that was allegedly leaked to German media through employees in Netanyahu’s office was not the only one that reached his office, but there were other documents of the same importance that were obtained and leaked in the same way.
Investigation details
The investigation focuses on “serious leaks of classified information from the IDF Intelligence Directorate to unauthorized recipients,” according to a Channel 12 report.
The Internal Security Service suspectsShin Bet) in that an “infrastructure” was established that was able to access “all classified material held by military intelligence,” and that it “extracted and perhaps intends in the future to continue to extract classified material that could reveal the capabilities of the entire intelligence community,” including This is related to the Israeli army and the Shin BetMossad.
The investigation is also about leaking documents in an attempt to influence Israeli public opinion to accept Netanyahu’s position that Hamas does not want to reach an agreement to exchange prisoners and ceasefire in Gaza with the aim of continuing the war.
Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported, citing unnamed Israeli security sources, that “the disclosure of highly classified information caused real damage in light of the surveillance of a Hamas tunnel, and as a result, activities related to the possibility of releasing the kidnapped persons were exposed to danger.”
The newspaper quoted security officials as saying that the reason for starting the investigation was to stop a dangerous leak during wartime.
She indicated that these officials were responding to Yaakov Bardugo, one of Netanyahu’s close associates, who told Israeli Channel 14 that the Israeli army and the Shin Bet had tried to carry out a coup against Netanyahu.
The officials added that the Shin Bet is dealing with this as a preventive measure in all respects, and the leak in this case means identifying its source, and means harming and exposing Israeli army soldiers fighting in the Gaza Strip to danger.
The investigation also addresses – according to the newspaper – a document presenting Hamas’s conditions for the deal and its attempt to influence public opinion in Israel, which was published in the German newspaper Bild.
The Prime Minister then quoted it in his remarks. The IDF was surprised by the publication and the dangers it posed and opened an internal investigation, which later became an investigation by the Shin Bet and the police.
According to the newspaper, the Israeli security establishment estimates that the number of Israeli prisoners in Gaza who are alive is less than 50 out of 101.
