Netanyahu was aware of illegally obtained classified document, suspected leaker's attorney says

It is still unclear if Eliezer Feldstein, the PM's media team advisor suspected of leaking the documents, did so on his own or at the prime minister's orders.

By ELIAV BREUER NOVEMBER 12, 2024 12:25 Updated: NOVEMBER 12, 2024 12:28

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to Israelis, as well as addresses Gazans following the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, October 17, 2024. (photo credit: GPO)

Contrary to denials from the prime minister's office, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was handed the classified information at the heart of an ongoing investigation into illegal leaks to foreign media, a lawyer of one of the suspects in the case revealed in an interview on Army Radio Tuesday morning.

It is still unclear whether or not the advisor from the prime minister's media team, Eliezer Feldstein, who is suspected of leaking the documents, did so on his own initiative or at the prime minister's orders.

However, if correct, the new information brings the case a step closer to the prime minister himself. It contradicts a statement by the prime minister's office on November 2, soon after the investigation became public, that "the document that was published did not arrive at the prime minister's office from the [IDF] Intelligence Directorate, and the prime minister learned about it from the media."

Info given to the prime minister

The lawyer, Adv. Michael Fetman represents a suspect whose identity is under gag order, a reserve Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) in an intelligence unit. According to Fetman, Feldstein told his client that he had passed on the information to the prime minister and that "the prime minister wants more [information] and cleared a full day to treat the issue."

Fetman added that his client had no prior acquaintance with Feldstein but was given Feldstein's number after inquiring about a way to pass on information directly to the prime minister's office. His motive, according to Fetman, was to provide the prime minister with information that he believed to be crucial in order to lead to a hostage deal.

Eliezer Feldstein, the central suspect in the PMO security leak affair. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT, Via Maariv)

The reservist wanted to avoid a scenario similar to that of the widely reported NCO known as "V," whose warning about the imminent threat of the Hamas attack prior to October 7 was not taken seriously and, therefore, did not make it up the chain of command, Fetman added.

Other previously unknown details that emerged during the interview were that Tuesday was the suspect's 18th day in prison, meaning that he was arrested on Saturday, October 26; that he had been prevented from meeting his lawyer for the first 10 days; that he was married with a two-year-old child, and that similar to Feldstein, he had grown up in an ultra-Orthodox family; and that no confrontation had been held between him and Feldstein since the arrests were made, suggesting that their versions of the events were not contradictory.

The leaked information is under gag order but is widely believed to be connected to a document leaked in early September to the German newspaper Bild, which said that, amongst other details, Hamas was intentionally sowing internal division in Israel over the hostage issue and did not intend to go through with a deal.

The report came out as public pressure against the prime minister and in favor of a deal peaked after the bodies of six hostages had been located in southern Gaza after being executed just days before.

In addition to the illegal obtaining and leaking of the documents, Feldstein is also reportedly being investigated for tampering with the document before it was leaked.

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The Shin Bet is running an investigation into the leaked information. Another investigation is ongoing, led by the Israel Police's Lahav 433 unit, reportedly regarding allegations of tampering by members of the prime minister's office with official protocols of meetings and phone conversations during the hours leading up to and following the Hamas attack, with the goal of minimizing the prime minister's involvement and thus minimizing his direct responsibility.