Israel is investigating leaks that appear to have strengthened Netanyahu as Gaza ceasefire talks stalled

TEL AVIV, Israel — An Israeli court is considering on Sunday whether the silence order should be revoked in a case involving suspected leaks of classified information from an employee of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Critics say they were intended to give him political cover as ceasefire negotiations in Gaza have stalled.

Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing and says no one from his office has been arrested or is under investigation. He has downplayed the case and publicly called for the gag order to be lifted.

Israeli media report that the case involves the leaking of classified information to two European media outlets by an adviser who may not have been formally employed or security cleared, without naming the person.

Netanyahu said the person in question “never participated in security discussions, was not exposed to or received classified information, and did not participate in secret visits.”

The leaked documents are said to have formed the basis of a widely discredited article in the London-based Jewish Chronicle – which was later retracted – suggesting that Hamas was planning to transport hostages from Gaza via Egypt, and an article in the German newspaper Bild stated that Hamas denounced the talks as a form of psychological warfare against Israel.

Israeli media and other observers expressed skepticism about the articles, which appeared to support Netanyahu’s demands in the talks and absolve him of blame for their failure.

The articles emerged as Netanyahu called for lasting Israeli control of the Philadelphi corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border, a demand first made public this summer. Hamas rejected the demand and accused Netanyahu of deliberately sabotaging the talks, which were mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt.

The articles also appeared to provide political cover as Netanyahu faced intense criticism from the hostages’ families and much of the Israeli public, who blame him for the failure to reach a deal. Criticism reached a fever pitch in early September, with mass protests and calls for a general strike after Hamas killed six hostages as Israeli forces closed in on them.

A court document confirmed that an investigation by police, military and the Shin Bet internal security service is underway and that a number of suspects have been arrested for questioning. It said the affair “poses a risk to sensitive information and resources” and “damages the achievement of the objectives of the war in the Gaza Strip.”

The court will decide on Sunday whether to revoke the silence order on other details of the case.

The leak led to a scandal at the Jewish Chronicle, where prominent columnists resigned in protest over the discredited articles. The London-based newspaper removed the article in question and others by a freelance journalist, saying it was “unsatisfied with some of his claims.”

The Bild article suggested that Hamas was not taking the negotiations seriously and was using psychological warfare to stoke Israeli divisions. Netanyahu quoted it in a meeting with his cabinet after it was published.

He again defended the article in a statement released this weekend, saying it had “exposed Hamas’ methods of exerting psychological pressure on the Israeli government and the public from home and abroad by blaming Israel for failure of talks to release the hostages.”

Netanyahu has tried to blame Hamas, whose Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel fueled the war, for the breakdown of the talks. Hamas, which still holds dozens of hostages, has said it will only release them in exchange for a lasting ceasefire, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas says these demands have not changed after the killing last month of its top leader Yahya Sinwar, as the United States, Egypt and Qatar seek to resume negotiations.

Netanyahu, often described by critics as obsessed with image, is on trial for corruption in three separate cases, two of which involve allegations that he granted favors to media moguls in exchange for positive reporting.

His office has downplayed the latest affair and accused the judiciary of bias, citing many other leaks over the course of the war. The country has also denied that the leak in question has had any impact on the ceasefire negotiations.

“The document only helped and certainly did not harm the effort to return the hostages,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on Saturday, adding that he only learned about the document when it was published.

His critics say the allegations are much more serious.

Yoav Limor, writing in the pro-Netanyahu daily Israel Hayom, called it “one of the most serious things Israel has ever known.”

“The damage it caused extends beyond the realm of national security and gives rise to suspicion that the Prime Minister’s Office acted to dismantle a hostage situation, contrary to the objectives of the war.”

Goldenberg writes for the Associated Press.