Court says hostage release agreement jeopardized by internal leak

A mother whose son is being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza has accused the Israeli government of “a cynical deception operation taken over by shadowy regimes” after it emerged that a government spokesman was arrested for allegedly leaking documents undermining a ceasefire could have been arrested was deal to release hostages.

This came after a court in Rishon LeZion said that Eli Feldstein and three others were being investigated for leaking stories to European newspapers.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Radio also reported a fifth arrest in connection with the investigation, said to be a major in the information security division of the military’s intelligence agency, which is tasked with preventing and investigating leaks. The Haaretz newspaper said all of the unnamed suspects belonged to that unit.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied wrongdoing by his staff, but opposition figures and hostage families have accused his government of sabotaging the negotiations.

The stories, leaked to Britain’s Jewish Chronicle and German tabloid Bild, were based on partial or false information and came at a crucial time in hostage negotiations.

At a protest in Tel Aviv, Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan has been held by Hamas for over a year, said the stories “support Netanyahu’s propaganda lies to torpedo the deal.”

According to the documents, Hamas planned to smuggle Israeli hostages into Egypt with the intention of scuttling any planned ceasefire agreement.

Some commentators say the revelations were politically useful for Netanyahu’s tough stance in the talks, where there has been almost no progress.

Over 100 of the 251 hostages held by Hamas on October 7, 2023 remain missing.

After the stories were published in September, the IDF launched an investigation to find the source of the leaks.

This ultimately led to the arrest of Eli Feldstein and the three others, whose identities were not revealed.

Mr. Feldstein served as a government spokesman and was often seen accompanying the prime minister on visits. He previously worked for the far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and before that served as an IDF spokesman.

Following news of his arrest, two leading opposition politicians held a press conference.

Benny Gantz, who until recently served in Netanyahu’s war cabinet, said that if sensitive security information was used for a “political survival campaign” it would not only be a criminal offense but “a crime against the nation.”

At the same event, opposition leader Yair Lapid said that if the prime minister knew about the leaks he would be “involved in one of the most serious security crimes” and that if he did not know he would be unfit for office.

The revelations also prompted strong criticism from the families of the hostages, who are increasingly frustrated by the government’s failure to secure the release of their loved ones.

They said it was an active campaign to discredit her, calling it “a moral low point without depth. This is a fatal damage to what remains of trust between the government and its citizens.”

The documents were published in European newspapers, ostensibly to circumvent Israel’s military censorship laws.

The Jewish Chronicle (JC) was mired in scandal after it was revealed that it had published stories based on a single anonymous source. The freelance writer behind the articles was fired and the articles were eventually removed.

The articles claimed that late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar – who was killed by Israeli troops in southern Gaza last month – was surrounded by a ring of about 20 hostages and that plans had been discovered to target both Sinwar and the prisoners Egypt to smuggle. Leading Israeli security journalists questioned the veracity of the reports.

A number of high-profile writers resigned from the newspaper, accusing it of poor journalistic standards.

Jonathan Freedland, Hadley Freeman and David Aaronovitch announced they were resigning from their columns due to what Freedland called a “great disgrace” at the world’s oldest Jewish newspaper.

At the time, the JC said it had conducted a “thorough investigation” into one of its freelance journalists, Elon Perry, “after allegations were made about aspects of his record.”

It said it was “not satisfied” with some of the author’s claims and had therefore deleted his articles and stopped working with him.

Elon Perry told BBC News that the JC “made a big mistake with his statement”. He said he could not reveal his source to JC editors and described a “witch hunt against me caused by jealousy.”

The Bild articles, meanwhile, were based on a different set of intelligence documents. While they proved to be authentic, leading security journalist Ronan Bergman found that their significance was greatly exaggerated.

It was the publication of this story that triggered the investigation by the IDF and security services and ultimately led to the arrests.

Despite the fierce criticism he has faced, few here believe the scandal will prove fatal to Netanyahu’s premiership. He is already facing several lawsuits on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, which he denies, but remains in power, supported by a coalition of far-right and religious parties.

“It’s not like there’s an accusation where you can say, ‘Well, they haven’t accused the prime minister of this yet, this will bring him down,'” said Anshel Pfeffer, a senior commentator for Haaretz newspaper.

He told me there were no signs of the government collapsing. “Their statement was that he was the victim of a plot by lawyers and journalists, and now they add the security forces who are supposedly after him.”

Netanyahu tried to distance himself from the allegations, saying the arrested speaker never had access to classified information.

Still, it is a growing scandal that has further damaged the already strained relationship between the government and the hostage families.