In a significant turn of events, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s close aide Eliezer Feldstein is considered the prime suspect in the leak of sensitive security documents from the Prime Minister’s office. The intelligence leak is currently being investigated by an Israeli court, as the documents are alleged to be part of a campaign to thwart a hostage deal.

Speculation about the intelligence leak began building even before Rishon Lezion Magistrate Judge Menahem Mizrahi partially lifted a gag order regarding the details of the security breach. Although details are still scarce, the leak is claimed to be one of the most serious security breaches in the country’s history.

Accordingly Jerusalem Post, Four people, including civilian Eliezer Feldstein, are currently under investigation. The Israeli official was a close friend of Netanyahu and worked unofficially for him. “The investigation began after serious suspicions were raised within the Shin Bet (Israeli Security Agency) and the IDF, as well as in light of media publications indicating that classified and sensitive intelligence information had been obtained and illegally removed from IDF systems,” the judge wrote.

This raised “concerns about serious harm to national security and the risk of information sources being compromised.” “As a result, the security forces’ ability to achieve their war objectives of releasing hostages may have been impaired,” he added.

Who is Eliezer Feldstein?

Accordingly Jerusalem Post, Feldstein was recruited by the Prime Minister’s media team shortly after the start of the war. While his exact employment status remains unclear, the Israeli official served as a spokesman for the IDF and later as a spokesman for National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Netanyahu’s office made clear that Feldstein was serving as a consultant after failing to pass the Shin Bet security clearance review process and was not officially an employee of the Israeli PMO. Amid the chaos, Opposition leader MK Yair Lapid said at a press conference alongside MK National Unity Party chairman Benny Gantz that Netanyahu was either complicit in leaking classified information to thwart the hostage deal or was completely incompetent at running the country.

“If Netanyahu knows, he is complicit in one of the most serious security breaches on the law books. If Netanyahu doesn’t know, what does he know? Lapid asked. “Netanyahu’s men are suspected of publishing classified documents and forging documents to undermine the possibility of a hostage agreement and launch a public relations campaign against the hostages’ families,” he added.

One suspect was released

In the decision, it was stated that one of the suspects was released and the detention period of the other three was extended. The three suspects were prevented from seeing a lawyer, and there were “reasonable grounds” and “alleged evidence” of the defendant’s guilt.

“The issue is not only the endangerment of sensitive information and information resources, but also the obstruction of the achievement of the objectives of the war in the Gaza Strip,” the judge said in the decision. he said. The case revolves around two reports by German newspaper Photograph and the British Jewish ChronicleHe stated that at that time they argued that Hamas did not intend to make a hostage agreement and planned to smuggle the hostages from the Gaza Strip to Egypt.

Netanyahu used this claim during hostage agreement negotiations to underscore his claim that troops should remain along the Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border. Hamas eventually rejected the agreement, stating that the ceasefire-hostage agreement should be based on the terms originally agreed upon by the two warring parties.

The leak of the secret document comes as the Israeli Prime Minister is accused of repeatedly delaying the hostage deal to prevent the collapse of his coalition government. Not only that, many believed that Netanyahu wanted to remain in office because he felt it was the best way to avoid prosecution in fraud, bribery and breach of trust cases filed in 2019. The Prime Minister has denied any wrongdoing in the case.

With input from agencies.