From the Liveblog of
Monday, November 4, 2024
Bild publication of stolen IDF intel poses ‘ongoing danger’ to IDF troops and hostages — report
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
The publication in Germany’s Bild in September of material based on a classified intelligence document stolen from an IDF database poses “an ongoing danger” to the lives of IDF soldiers and hostages held in Gaza, Channel 12 reports, citing an unnamed source involved in the current investigation of the case. It says Israel’s intelligence capabilities have been damaged, including because of the “exposure of sources.”
“The use of the published material caused real and ongoing security harm that, daily, endangers the safety and security of IDF soldiers at war and harmed and harms the capacity to protect the lives of the hostages in the negotiations for their release,” it quotes the source as saying.
The illicit extraction of the material from the IDF’s databases was bad enough, the TV report says. But the publication of the material revealed to Israel’s enemies some of Israel’s sources of information, the report says, noting that the material would have been barred from publication in Israel by the military censor.
Channel 12 quotes another source as elaborating: “This is not a case [merely] about leaks. This was an investigation that was opened after the leak of secret, classified, secret material was identified, that was likely to burn sources. This is sensitive intelligence material that was taken from the IDF, extracted illicitly, and manipulative and dangerous use was made of it.”
It says that the Bild article claimed that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar wrote a document that sets out a rejectionist stance with regard to negotiations for the release of hostages, including the use of psychological pressure on the families of the hostages. In fact, however, Channel 12 says, Sinwar did not write the document; it was penned by Hamas military intelligence. And the content of the document, the TV report says, was inaccurately represented both in the article and in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s subsequent references to it.
The Times of Israel Community.