What you need to know about the Netanyahu office leak allegations | Benjamin Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is known for being both obsessed with his image and anxious to stay in office, which he sees as the best way to avoid prosecution over long-standing corruption allegations that he denies.

He is accused at home and abroad of delaying a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza to appease his far-right coalition partners who could overthrow his government. It is also claimed that the prime minister is willing to extend and expand Israel’s military involvement in the region in order to defer responsibility for the intelligence and security failures of October 7, 2023.

An alleged leak of classified military information from his office to two news outlets has so far led to five arrests, potentially hurting the chances of a deal. The material appears to have been edited or manipulated to favor the Prime Minister’s stance on the hostage talks.

How did this all start?

In the summer, after a conditional framework had already been reached, Netanyahu added a controversial demand in the hostage-taking and ceasefire talks: that Israeli troops remain on the Gaza-Egypt border. The new ultimatum met with some surprise among Israeli security authorities, who did not consider it essential. It was rejected by Hamas and the talks failed.

Questions then swirled about two articles, one from the British newspaper Jewish Chronicle and one from the German tabloid Bild, each published just one day after the other in early September. The Jewish Chronicle story claimed, based on material discovered by the Israeli army in Gaza, that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar planned to smuggle himself and Israeli hostages out of Gaza via Egypt.

The Bild report said Hamas documents found by Israeli forces showed the Palestinian militant group planned to delay the talks for as long as possible as a form of psychological warfare. Similar claims were made by an Israeli television channel earlier this year.

What happened then?

Concerned that publication of the articles could jeopardize intelligence gathering, the Israeli army launched an investigation into the leak. The Jewish Chronicle retracted its story after the IDF claimed it was fabricated and cut ties with the freelancer who wrote it after concerns arose about other articles he contributed. Bild stood by its reporting and said that the IDF had confirmed the authenticity of the material.

Both reports were met with skepticism in Israel, where it was noted that the points made in the articles were consistent with the prime minister’s own talking points at a time when he was under unprecedented pressure to agree to a deal in tunnels following the discovery of six dead hostages Rafah.

The hostages were killed shortly before Israeli troops found them, increasing doubts among the Israeli public that the remaining prisoners could be freed through rescue missions and military pressure, as Netanyahu stressed. He has also repeatedly argued that protesters pushing for a deal are “falling into Hamas’ trap.”

Why is the scandal coming to a head now?

The affair has rocked Israel since Friday after a court announced that five arrests were made last week as part of a joint investigation by police, internal security services and the army over an alleged “violation of national security through the unlawful provision of… “Classified information had been made” that “harmed the realization of Israel’s war goals” – i.e. the release of the hostages.

The main suspect was named Eliezer Feldstein, who, according to Israeli media, was hired as a spokesman and media adviser in the Prime Minister’s Office shortly after the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023. The other four are soldiers from an intelligence unit tasked with preventing leaks, local media reported, and one has since been released. Many details are still confidential.

Israel’s Channel 12 said on Monday that investigators believe the theft of secret files from IDF databases, which were later passed on to people in the prime minister’s office, was “systematic” and that the news reports on foreign channels threatened the life of Soldiers and hostages in Gaza demanded endangered.

What does Netanyahu say?

The prime minister is not considered a suspect in the case and has distanced himself from Feldstein.

He tried to downplay the matter and called for the confidentiality obligation to be lifted in the interest of transparency. He also played a favorite card: He accused the judiciary of bias by pointing out that dozens of other leaks related to ceasefire and hostage release negotiations had surfaced in media reports without being investigated.

On Saturday, Netanyahu denied any involvement in the revelation or any wrongdoing by his staff. Feldstein “never participated in security negotiations, was not confronted with or received classified information, and did not participate in secret visits,” his office said.

What happens next?

A partial silence order remains in place, meaning details are likely to emerge slowly.

The scandal could continue to grow. On Tuesday, a court released news that the Israeli police’s anti-corruption unit is conducting a criminal investigation into events “since the start of the war.”

Again, much of the information was prevented from being released by a gag order, but the case is believed to center on officials in the Prime Minister’s Office who allegedly attempted to tamper with Cabinet meeting notes and transcripts of security briefings. Netanyahu’s office called the report a “complete lie.”