Court allows main suspect in PM’s office leak case to be named: Eli Feldstein

The Rishon Letzion Magistrates Court lifts a gag order on naming the central suspect in the case of the alleged leak of classified documents from within the Prime Minister’s Office.

The suspect is named Eli Feldstein, who works at the PMO. He was formerly a spokesperson for the office of Otzma Yehudit chief Itamar Ben Gvir.

Feldstein, who is remanded in custody by the court for a further two days, is suspected of illegally gaining access to classified IDF material, with this material then being leaked to foreign media.

The leaked documents are said to have formed the basis of a widely discredited article in the London-based Jewish Chronicle — which was later withdrawn — suggesting Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar planned to spirit hostages out of Gaza through Egypt, and an article in Germany’s Bild newspaper that said Hamas was drawing out hostage-ceasefire talks as a form of psychological warfare on Israel.

Israeli media and other observers expressed skepticism about the articles — which appeared to support Netanyahu’s demands in the talks and absolve him of blame for their failure — when they appeared in early September.

Feldstein is reported to have begun working in the Prime Minister’s Office in October 2023, soon after the Hamas invasion and massacre in southern Israel, despite having failed a Shin Bet security check.

In total, the court says four suspects are being investigated in the case, which began amid concerns in the security establishment that the leaked sensitive information would harm the security of the state and its information sources.

The court says there is a concern that the investigation could be harmed if the gag order is completely lifted at this time.

כקצין חרדי בצה״ל שגר בבני ברק גאה בשירות שלי, גאה במדים הירוקים שלי ולעולם לא אחליף אותם! https://t.co/JrqllF9DUA pic.twitter.com/Ly5snlUfE1

— אלי פלדשטין (@EliEli3172) March 31, 2020