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

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — An Israeli court on Sunday relaxed a silence order in a case investigating leaks of classified information suspected to involve one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s media advisers. Critics say the leaks were intended to give Netanyahu political cover as ceasefire negotiations in Gaza stalled.

Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing, downplayed the case and publicly called for the silence order to be lifted. Netanyahu has said that the person in question “never participated in security discussions, was not exposed to or received classified information, and did not participate in secret visits.”

On Sunday, an Israeli court allowed the publication of the name of the central suspect in the case, Eli Feldstein, who Israeli media said was one of Netanyahu’s media advisers. Israeli media report that the case involves the leaking of classified information to two European media outlets, allegedly by Feldstein, who may not have been formally employed and did not have security clearance. Media reported that Feldstein joined Netanyahu as an advisor weeks after the October 7, 2023, attacks and previously worked as an adviser to far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

The court has not released the names of three other suspects who are also being investigated in connection with the leak.

The leaked documents are said to have formed the basis of a widely discredited article in the London-based Jewish Chronicle – which was later withdrawn – which suggested that Hamas was planning to expel hostages from Gaza via Egypt, and an article in the German newspaper Bild which stated that Hamas described 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. Netanyahu made no mention of the case on Sunday during a visit to Israel’s northern border with Israel, according to a video released by his office.

The articles came out as Netanyahu called for continued Israeli control over Israel the Philadelphia corridor along the Gaza-Egypt bordera demand that was 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. In early September, criticism reached a fever pitch. with mass protests and calls for a general strikeafter 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 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 hostageshas 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 Hamas’s assassination last month its top leader Yahya Sinwarsuch as the United States, Egypt and Qatar try to resume negotiations.

Netanyahu, often described by critics as obsessed with images, is on trial for corruption in three separate casestwo 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.”

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