Netanyahu is said to have sabotaged hostage deal

The allegations are outrageous: secret documents are said to have been passed on to the media from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They were allegedly intended to sabotage an agreement in the hostage negotiations with Hamas.

One of the suspects was identified Sunday as Eliezer Feldstein after an Israeli court partially lifted a news blackout on the case. The accused had been arrested with three other suspects two days earlier and is said to have worked as a spokesman in Netanyahu’s office. A fifth suspect was arrested on Monday.

According to the court, the arrests followed a joint investigation by the police, intelligence services and the army. The basis is a “violation of national security through the illegal disclosure of classified information”. This harmed the war goal of freeing the hundred or so hostages still held captive in Gaza.

There are two documents at the center of the affair. In a text published by the British newspaper “The Jewish Chronicle” on September 5th, citing a Hamas paper, it was reported that the now killed leader of the group, Jahia Sinwar, had planned to escape across the Egyptian border into Iran with Israeli hostages.

A day later, an article appeared in the German tabloid Bild, citing a Hamas strategy document, according to which Sinwar was not interested in a quick agreement with Israel and instead wanted to continue to exert psychological pressure on Israel through the hostages.

Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said, referring to the initial report, that the army had no such information. Israeli media reported a fake. “The Jewish Chronicle” has now deleted the article and ended its collaboration with the author.

Regarding the “Bild” report, the army announced after publication that the paper cited had been found around five months ago. However, it did not come from Sinwar or the Hamas leadership, but was written by lower-ranking members of the Palestinian organization.

But it is clear who benefited from the reports at the time of publication: Netanyahu. They underlined key points with which he had just days before justified Israel’s further demands in the negotiations with Hamas in a press conference. This included the refusal to vacate the Philadelphia Corridor on the Egyptian border, contrary to the recommendations of army and intelligence leaders.

The Prime Minister goes on the counterattack

Critics are now accusing Netanyahu’s office of running a disinformation campaign to keep his government from collapsing. Its right-wing extremist members have repeatedly warned that they would leave the coalition in the event of a ceasefire. Since the suspect was identified as Eliezer Feldstein on Sunday, more details have emerged.

According to Israeli media reports, the 32-year-old Feldstein worked in the past as an army spokesman for the occupied West Bank and for the party of the right-wing religious police minister Itamar Ben Gvir. After the Hamas attack a year ago, he became spokesman for the prime minister’s office. However, Feldstein is said not to have been employed regularly due to a failed security check.

According to the Haaretz newspaper, it is currently unclear whether he was employed by Netanyahu’s office or his Likud party. What is known, however, is that he and Netanyahu took part in numerous, even secret, meetings and visits to security-relevant facilities. This is proven by several photos from last year.

Proving that the head of government is involved, as opposition leader Jair Lapid has demanded, is unlikely to be possible in the short term. In addition, Netanyahu’s office has already gone on the attack: During the war, numerous classified information was also leaked from other authorities. The investigation into the Feldstein case was “aggressive and biased.”