Israel Leaks Scandal – Fifth Israeli Army Officer Suspect Arrested

By Palestine Chronicle Staff

On Friday, an Israeli district court judge partially lifted a gag order on the ongoing joint investigation by the Shin Bet, the police and the army.

A senior Israeli army officer is the fifth suspect arrested as part of the investigation into leaked intelligence from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, according to media reports.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu has called for an investigation into the leak of the documents, Arabic broadcaster Al-Jazeera reported on Monday, citing the Israeli news agency Hayom.

The broadcaster also cited the Israel Broadcasting Corporation (KAN) as a source in the investigation, which said a senior soldier had been arrested.

The Times of Israel also reported that an Israeli military “officer” had been arrested as part of the investigation.

On Friday, an Israeli district court judge partially lifted a gag order on the ongoing joint investigation by the Shin Bet, the police and the army.

The documents were said to have been written by Hamas, the Times of Israel said, and subsequently leaked to the London-based Jewish Chronicle and the German newspaper Bild.

“Not found” in Gaza

Citing state broadcaster Kan, the Times of Israel said the leaked documents were “not found by Israeli forces in Gaza” but were uncovered by “a different type of intelligence.”

Among the arrested suspects was a spokesman for Netanyahu’s office, Eli Feldstein.

“Intelligence leak” scandal rocks Netanyahu’s office – close associate arrested

The names of three other suspects “remain secret from the court, but it confirmed that they had links to the defense establishment,” the paper said.

“The investigation began after significant suspicions arose within the Shin Bet and the IDF, including through media publications, that classified and sensitive IDF intelligence information was being stolen and illegally removed, raising concerns about serious harm to national security and a threat to… revealed the sources of the information,” the court was quoted as saying, according to the Times of Israel.

“As a result, the ability of the defense forces to achieve the objective of freeing the hostages (held in Gaza) could have been compromised,” it said.

Netanyahu is pushing for investigations

Netanyahu called for an investigation into the leak in a letter to the government’s legal adviser Gali Beharav Meara, Al-Jazeera reported.

“Since the beginning of the war, we have witnessed a continuous stream of dangerous leaks and revelations of state secrets,” he reportedly wrote.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is calling for an immediate investigation into serious leaks of classified information involving senior officials, as authorities arrest four suspects, including a spokesman for his office pic.twitter.com/SS4bpotQrF

— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) November 5, 2024

“These leaks come from the meetings of the Security Mini-Council of Ministers (Cabinet), from the administration of the Coordinator for Prisoners and Missing Persons Affairs (affiliated to the army) and from limited security forums,” Netanyahu is quoted as saying. “Including those where there is no involvement from the political level.”

News platform Axios described the leak as possibly “the biggest scandal within the Israeli government” since the genocidal war on Gaza began in October last year.

(PC, AJA)