Israeli PM's Aide Detained

He is suspected of leaking documents.

The Israeli police have detained a top aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on suspicion of passing classified information to foreign media until November 7. This is reported by CNN. Four members of the intelligence services are also under investigation. One of them was placed under house arrest. The measure of restraint for the other suspects is not reported.

According to the TV channel, one of the suspects in the case is Eliezer Feldstein, who worked for a long time in the press service of the Israel Defence Forces. In December 2022, Feldstein became Netanyahu's military aide.

As Reuters notes, the suspects passed classified information to the British publication of The Jewish Chronicle and Germany's Bild. In September, both newspapers, citing sources in the Israeli intelligence services, published materials that described the intention of Hamas, a group recognised as a terrorist group in the United States and the European Union, to transport Israeli hostages secretly from Gaza to Egypt.

The publications also said that the Palestinians want to split Israeli society by accusing the prime minister and his supporters of disrupting peace talks and the hostage release process.

Reuters notes that the theses in the published materials resemble Netanyahu's remarks at a press conference on September 2, days after the bodies of six murdered hostages were found in a tunnel in Gaza. At the press conference, the prime minister also referred to a document found by jihadists about a plan to transport the hostages to Egypt and the pressure on Israeli society.

Yair Lapid, the leader of Israel's parliamentary opposition, said that the document, which was found in the Gaza tunnels, turned out to be forged. Lapid also said Netanyahu's office allegedly released the data to the media to derail the possibility of a hostage deal and to turn opinion against the families of Israelis captured by Hamas.

Israel Defence Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said earlier that the document cited by Bild was not written by the group's then leader, Yahya Sinwar, but was authentic and contained recommendations for Hamas' middle management.

According to Hagari, the document in question was found several months ago. The army is investigating the leak of the document.

Netanyahu's cabinet denies involvement in the handing over of the data to journalists. The prime minister himself said he learnt about the leak from media publications.

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