Court permits lifting gag order on name of IDF reservist in intel theft and leak case

Details only to be published later this week; prosecution opposed suspect’s request to make his name public; he told court he can’t defend his reputation while ‘in the dark’

Screen capture from video of a hearing on lifting a gag order relating to the leak of sensitive information and the Prime Minister's Office, December 22, 2024. (Walla: Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
Screen capture from video of a hearing on lifting a gag order relating to the leak of sensitive information and the Prime Minister's Office, December 22, 2024. (Walla: Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

The Tel Aviv District Court on Sunday agreed to a request from an IDF reservist charged in the Prime Minister’s Office security documents theft and leak scandal who asked to lift a gag order on publishing his name, accepting his right to defend his innocence in the public sphere.

The State Prosecution had opposed the move, claiming it would inevitably lead to the revealing of other secret information to which the intelligence soldier had access during his service.

In its ruling, the court said the gag order will be lifted at noon on Tuesday, giving the prosecution time to file an appeal against the decision. Details such as the soldier’s rank, the material he dealt with, his military past, and his area of expertise will remain prohibited from publication.

The noncommissioned officer was charged last month together with Eli Feldstein, an aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Feldstein allegedly leaked a highly classified document, conveyed to him by the NCO, to the German tabloid. Bild, in early September, which ostensibly detailed Hamas’s priorities and tactics in hostage negotiations. (It later became apparent the document was written by lower-level officials in the terror group and did not necessarily reflect the leadership’s position.) Feldstein, a spokesman who worked closely with Netanyahu over the past year and who is the central suspect in the affair, was charged with transferring classified information with the intent to harm the state, a charge that can carry a sentence of life in prison, as well as illicit possession of classified information and obstruction of justice.

The NCO has been charged with transferring classified information, an offense that is punishable by up to seven years in prison, as well as theft by an authorized person and obstruction of justice.

The affair centers around what prosecutors allege were Feldstein’s efforts to sway public opinion surrounding the negotiations for the release of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza in a more favorable direction for Netanyahu, days after six of the hostages were murdered by the terror group in late August. Critics believed that Netanyahu at the time was reluctant to agree to a deal under the proposed terms, in part due to pressure from the far-right flank of his coalition.

The NCO is still in custody, while Feldstein has been released to house arrest.

The reservist told the Tel Aviv District during Sunday’s hearing that he made a mistake, but said, “I cannot fight for my good name when I am in the dark. The public needs to know who I am, what I did, and what my intentions were.”

Noting that he has a wife and young child at home, he lamented, “I don’t understand how it came out that I am still in jail.”

A poster showing hostages held in the Gaza Strip, displayed at the so-called Hostage Square in Tel Aviv. December 22 2024. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)

The state prosecution opposed the request to lift the gag order, stating that security officials believe “publishing his name would reveal the secret information to which he was exposed during his service in the Intelligence Corps.”

The state called on the head of information security in the IDF military directorate to come to the court and explain why the NCO’s name should not be published, the Haaretz daily reported. The media was only permitted to watch the start of the hearing, and the rest of the court session was held behind closed doors.

Aside from the soldier’s request, the court also heard requests from media outlets and the families of hostages held in the Gaza Strip that more details of the case be permitted for publication.

The families want to know, in particular, how the leaks are said to have influenced negotiations for the hostages’ release, and public opinion on the matter.

In the court, the NCO’s attorney Uri Korev said that, contrary to the way the indictment frames the charges against him, and the alleged intention of Feldstein, his client acted in a way he believed would hasten, rather than deter, a hostage deal.

The NCO’s wife was at the courthouse, as was Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker.

Speaking to media outside the court, the NCO’s wife related how she had received support from Zangauker and that they were united in their efforts, Ynet reported.

Eli Feldstein (left), a former spokesman in the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is the main suspect in an investigation, launched in late October 2024, of alleged illegal access and leaking of classified intelligence material (Kan screenshot, used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law); Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) at a plenum session at the Knesset, Jerusalem, November 12, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The reservist’s legal team last week petitioned President Isaac Herzog for a pardon in the case, saying he “understood that his acts were forbidden and would not repeat them.” Admitting guilt and expressing remorse are conditions for a presidential pardon.

Herzog’s office said it had received the pardon request and had begun looking into the matter.

Relatives of some hostages held in Gaza appealed to Herzog to not accept the request for a pardon, Haaretz reported.

To grant a pardon, they wrote, would prevent criminal proceedings for actions that, aside from the harm they caused to national security, also undermine the foundations of the army.

Such a course of action, “is wrong and dangerous, and shows a deep and fundamental moral failure,” the families wrote.

However, Herzog has come under pressure to grant the pardon.

Last week, 62 MKs signed a letter to Herzog asking him to grant the pardon, Ynet reported. Among those who did not sign were Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf.

On Friday, Israel’s two chief rabbis, David Yosef and Kalman Bar, also asked Herzog to grant the pardon.

A sign pointing to the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, November 7, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

On October 7, 2023, Palestinian terror group Hamas led a devastating cross-border attack on Israel that killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians. The estimated 3,000 terrorists who invaded the country also abducted 251 people who were taken as hostages to the Gaza Strip.

Internationally mediated talks to reach a deal for the release of the hostages, of whom 96 remain in captivity, along with a ceasefire have so far failed to yield an agreement.

Most Popular
read more: