Israeli police arrest soldier and government spokesman over intelligence leak

Eli Feldstein is accused of sharing documents that claimed Hamas planned to smuggle hostages out of Gaza, a leak that could have jeopardised any release deal.

Eli Feldstein (left) allegedly leaked the information to bolster the hardline stance taken by Binyamin Netanyahu on Hamas.

Israeli police have arrested a government spokesman and at least one soldier on suspicion of leaking intelligence documents that a court said could have hindered a potential deal to release hostages held in Gaza.

Eli Feldstein, a spokesman who worked closely with the office of Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, is accused of illegally obtaining and releasing classified military documents that purported to show Hamas planned to smuggle Israeli hostages out of Gaza while letting negotiations drag on.

Feldstein allegedly leaked the information to the media to back up comments made by Netanyahu and sway public opinion behind the prime minister’s hardline stance on a truce with Hamas.

Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has sought to distance himself from the leaks. Picture: Nir Elias / POOL / AFP

Four other suspects have been arrested, including a junior officer in the Israel Defence Forces who was detained yesterday (Monday). All four serve in the same defence establishment unit that is tasked with keeping state secrets and preventing leaks, sources told Haaretz.

The court investigating the leaks said the disclosures could have damaged “the ability of defence bodies to achieve the goal of freeing the hostages”.

News of the arrests has provoked outrage among the families of those still being held in Gaza and led them to question whether Netanyahu was involved in the leak - an allegation denied by his office.

An protester carries a portrait of Nimrod Cohen, an Israeli hostage held by Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, during an anti-government demonstration in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv, on October 19. Picture: Jack Guez/AFP

During a meeting yesterday (Monday) at the Israeli parliament, Yehuda Cohen, whose son Nimrod, 20, was among more than 200 people captured in the Hamas attacks on October 7 last year, said Netanyahu was “using psychological terror against the families of the hostages”.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents most of the families of the 97 hostages still held, said it was a “severe blow to the remaining trust between the government and its citizens”, adding: “This is a moral low point like no other.”

The Pink Front, a pro-democracy group, are among thousands of Israeli protesters who have put pressure on Netanyahu to secure a hostage release deal. Picture: Jack Guez/AFP

The head of Rishon LeZion magistrates’ court lifted a reporting restriction to identify Feldstein as one of the four suspects arrested last week over the leaks, which were published in September. The court banned the reporting of the three other suspects’ names, although Israeli media reported that their connection to the defence establishment had been confirmed. Yesterday (Monday) Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, announced the arrest of a fifth suspect, said to be an Israeli soldier.

The leaks led to since-discredited articles appearing in the London-based Jewish Chronicle and Bild, the German tabloid, at a time when Netanyahu was facing pressure from his defence minister and the opposition to reach a deal that would free the Israeli hostages. They came shortly after Netanyahu gave two combative press conferences defending his insistence on keeping troops in Gaza along the Philadelphi Corridor, which separates the territory from Egypt. Hamas had ruled out any deal that allowed Israeli troops to remain in Gaza.

Displaced Palestinians walk along the Philadelphi, or Salaheddin corridor, a narrow buffer zone along the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt. Picture: Mahmud Hams/AFP

Netanyahu had said Hamas could smuggle the hostages to Egypt and from there to Iran.

The Jewish Chronicle later retracted its report. Bild also published a story claiming it had obtained documents showing that Hamas intended to drag out the negotiations. Israeli officials said the reports had misrepresented the source material.

Israeli media reported that Feldstein began working last year in the prime minister’s director-general office, which deals with administrative work and policies. According to reports, he had failed a security check by Shin Bet, which prevented him from working for the office directly. He was reported to have been in close contact with the prime minister’s office despite having no security clearance, and was photographed several times accompanying Netanyahu at public events.

Netanyahu has distanced himself from the leaks and had called for the reporting restriction to be lifted. His office said Feldstein had never participated in security discussions and that the prime minister was unaware of the leaks before he read them in the media.

The Times