‘Feldstein Law,’ giving immunity for passing classified info to PM, passes preliminary Knesset reading

The so-called Feldstein Law, which would prevent the prosecution of soldiers and other members of the defense establishment for giving classified intelligence to the prime minister or defense minister without authorization, passes its preliminary reading at the Knesset.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not present for the vote on the bill, which passed 59-52.

The proposed law comes in response to charges against Eli Feldstein, a spokesman for Netanyahu, and an unnamed IDF reservist.

Feldstein is accused of leaking to the German newspaper Bild material from a document stolen from an IDF database by a second defendant, an IDF noncommissioned officer (NCO), in a bid to sway public opinion against a truce-hostage deal in Gaza.

The military and defense establishment have denied accusations that senior politicians have been kept out of the loop, and have opposed the bill.

While the law has been dubbed the “Feldstein Law,” Eli Feldstein is not a soldier.

Kan has reported, without citing sources, that Feldstein said he notified the prime minister two days before he leaked the document to Bild.

Netanyahu has insisted that he only learned about the existence of the classified document from the media, and has used the case as a launchpad for attacks on the Shin Bet internal security agency.