Netanyahu aide leaked classified document to influence public opinion on hostage negotiations, court says

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1An aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is alleged to have leaked classified information to foreign press in the hopes of influencing public opinion on hostage negotiations, according to a court release published Sunday.

2Eliezer Feldstein was arrested earlier this month for allegedly leaking “classified and sensitive intelligence information,” according to court documents. 3Sunday’s court release outlines more of the details surrounding this alleged leak.

4According to the magistrate’s court of Rishon Lezion, the leak began when a non-commissioned officer (NCO) in the Israeli military reserves took a “highly sensitive and classified document” from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

5In April this year, the NCO sent a copy of the document to Feldstein, who distributed it to Israeli media outlets in September “with the aim of influencing public opinion on the ongoing negotiations concerning the hostages,” the court release said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a new conference the day after the military recovered the bodies of six hostages executed by Hamas. He insisted Israel keep control of the Gaza-Egypt border.

6Related article Police arrest Netanyahu aide as opponents accuse him of leaking intelligence to thwart Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal

9This came shortly after the Israeli military announced on September 1 that six Israeli hostages were killed in Gaza. 10Four of them were due to be released in the first wave of a potential deal.

11Israeli media outlets were prevented from publishing articles related to the leaked document by the country’s censorship authorities, the court release said, so Feldstein “decided to bypass censorship and publish the document in foreign media.”

12Two articles published in September, one in the United Kingdom’s Jewish Chronicle and another in Germany’s Bild, included information related to the leaks. 13Both cited Israeli intelligence sources and supported a narrative being pushed by Netanyahu at the time.

14Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz – who quit Netanyahu’s wartime cabinet earlier this year – seized on the alleged leaks as a failure at the very top of government, with Gantz calling it a “national crime.”

15Both blamed Netanyahu’s office for the leak, with Gantz accusing Netanyahu of leveraging the leaks for political gains.

16A spokesperson for Netanyahu denied earlier this month that there were leaks from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), and said that the “person in question never participated in security-related discussions,” apparently referring to Feldstein.

17The PMO also downplayed the possibility that the leak impacted negotiations with Hamas over the release of hostages from Gaza, calling the claim “ridiculous.”

18CNN has reached out to Feldstein’s lawyer for comment.

19CNN’s Mick Krever, Irene Nasser, Lauren Izso and Eyad Kourdi contributed to this report.

from CNN