Netanyahu aid and second suspect in Prime Minister Office’s leaks scandal charged

Benjamin Netanyahu’s aid — a central suspect in the Prime Minister’s Office leaks case —was charged on Thursday with disclosing confidential information for the purpose of harming national security.

Eli Feldstein, as well as another suspect, an IDF reservist noncommissioned officer whose identity has not been released, were charged by the Attorney General’s Office.

Feldstein, 32, was charged with transferring classified information with intent to harm the state, while the unnamed reservist was charged with transferring classified information.

According to the indictment, the leak “exposed Israeli intelligence capabilities to Hamas, which was likely to harm national security and the functioning of security agencies”. It would also “likely put people in life-threatening danger, particularly at a time of war”. 

Feldstein, as well the military officer who allegedly leaked him the document were arrested on October 27.

Feldstein is accused of unlawfully receiving a classified document and leaking it to the German newspaper Bild.

The alleged motivation behind Feldstein’s leak was to alleviate public criticism levelled against Netanyahu for not securing the release of the hostages. Bild’s report appeared when public pressure on Netanyahu to agree to a hostage deal had peaked, following the discovery on August 31 of the bodies of six hostages in southern Gaza who had been executed.

Feldstein leaked the document in the hopes of “shifting the public discourse about the hostages in the wake of their murder,” according to the indictment.

The prosecution claimed that Feldstein leaked the document to influence public discourse over the fate of the Israeli hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza; have Hamas chief Sinwar blamed for the impasse in hostage release negotiations; and imply that protests demanding the release the hostages were playing into Hamas’s hands, reported the Times of Israel.

The report said that Hamas was sowing division in Israel over the hostage issue and did not intend to go ahead with a deal.

Feldstein’s actions “severely endangered state security,” according to according to the prosecution. The classified information was “published by a foreign media outlet after the Israeli military censor explicitly prohibited its publication,” the State Attorney's Office said.

"This action was carried out with the knowledge of the defendant, Eliezer Feldstein, and was intended to influence Israeli public discourse regarding the handling of the hostage situation.”

Feldstein is also reportedly being investigated for tampering with the document before it was leaked, according to the Jerusalem Post.

The punishment for someone convicted of unlawfully transferring classified information with the intent to harm the state is life imprisonment, according to Israel’s Penal Code, while the punishment for unlawfully transferring classified information is seven years.