Netanyahu aide leaks may have harmed hostage talks, court says
A mother whose son is held hostage by Hamas in Gaza has accused Israel’s government of engaging in “a cynical deception operation reminiscent of dark regimes” after it was revealed that a government spokesperson had been arrested for allegedly leaking documents that may have jeopardized a potential ceasefire and hostage release deal.
The statement followed a court announcement in Rishon LeZion, where Eli Feldstein and three others are reportedly under investigation for providing stories to European media outlets.
According to IDF Radio, a fifth individual, a major in the military intelligence information security branch responsible for handling and investigating leaks, was also arrested in relation to the case. Haaretz reported that all unnamed suspects are part of this unit.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing by his staff, but opposition members and families of hostages have accused the government of undermining negotiations.
The stories, published by Britain’s Jewish Chronicle and Germany’s Bild, reportedly contained partial or misleading information at a critical time in the hostage negotiations.
At a protest in Tel Aviv, Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan has been held by Hamas for over a year, stated that the stories “supported Netanyahu’s propaganda lies to derail the deal.”
The leaked documents alleged that Hamas intended to smuggle Israeli hostages to Egypt, seemingly aiming to disrupt any proposed ceasefire.
Some analysts believe these revelations served Netanyahu’s hardline stance on the stalled negotiations, which have seen little progress.
Out of 251 hostages taken by Hamas on 7 October 2023, more than 100 remain unaccounted for.
Following the publication of the stories in September, the IDF launched an investigation to identify the source of the leaks, ultimately leading to the arrests of Feldstein and the others, whose identities have not been disclosed.
Mr Feldstein had been working as a government spokesperson and was often seen accompanying the prime minister on visits. He had previously worked for the far-right Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and before that he served as an IDF spokesperson.
Following news of his arrest, two leading opposition politicians held a news conference.
Benny Gantz, who until recently was in Netanyahu’s war cabinet, said that if sensitive security information was used for a “political survival campaign”, it would not only be a criminal offence, but “a crime against the nation”.
Speaking at the same event, the leader of the opposition, Yair Lapid, said that if the prime minister knew about the leaks, “he is complicit in one of the most serious security offences” and that if he didn’t know, he is not fit for office.
The revelations also led to strong criticism from the families of the hostages, who have become increasingly frustrated with the government’s failure to secure the release of their loved ones.
They said it implied an active campaign to discredit them, calling it “a moral low that has no depth. This is a fatal injury to the remnants of trust between the government and its citizens.”
The documents were published in European newspapers, allegedly to circumvent military censorship laws in Israel.
The Jewish Chronicle (JC) was engulfed in a scandal after it emerged it had published stories based on a single anonymous source. The freelance writer behind the pieces was fired, with the articles eventually being taken down.
The articles claimed that the late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar – who was killed by Israeli troops in southern Gaza last month – was surrounded by a ring of about 20 hostages, and that plans had been discovered to smuggle both Sinwar and the captives into Egypt. Leading Israeli security journalists questioned the veracity of the reports.
A number of high-profile writers resigned from the paper, accusing it of lacking journalistic standards.
Jonathan Freedland, Hadley Freeman and David Aaronovitch announced they were quitting their columns over what Freedland described as a “great disgrace” at the world’s oldest Jewish newspaper.
At the time, the JC said it conducted a “thorough investigation” into one of its freelance journalists, Elon Perry, “after allegations were made about aspects of his record”.
It said it was “not satisfied” with some of the claims made by the writer, and therefore had deleted his articles and ended its association with him.
Elon Perry told BBC News the JC “made a huge mistake with its statement”. He said he could not reveal his source to JC editors and described a “witch-hunt against me caused by jealousy”.
The Bild articles, meanwhile, were based on a different set of intelligence documents. While they were found to be authentic, leading security journalist Ronan Bergman found their significance had been greatly exaggerated.
It was the publication of this story that triggered the investigation by the IDF and security services, ultimately leading to the arrests.
Despite the fierce criticism he is facing, few people here think the scandal will prove fatal for Netanyahu’s premiership. He is already facing multiple court cases on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, which he denies, yet remains in power, propped up by a coalition of far-right and religious parties.
“It’s not like there’s a charge where you can say, ‘Well, they haven’t thrown this yet against the prime minister, this is going to bring him down,’” says Anshel Pfeffer, a leading commentator for the Haaretz newspaper.
He told me there was no sign of the government collapsing. “Their line has been that he is the victim of a cabal of lawyers and journalists, and now they’re also adding in the security establishment, who they say are out to get him.”
Netanyahu has sought to distance himself from the allegations, saying the arrested spokesperson had never had access to classified information.
Despite that, this is a growing scandal that has further damaged the already frayed relationship between the government and the hostage families.
