Ministers advance ‘Feldstein Law’ granting immunity to defense establishment members who pass classified intel to PM

Ministers advance the so-called “Feldstein Law” that would mean members of the defense establishment cannot be prosecuted for giving classified intelligence to the prime minister or defense minister without authorization.

The law is approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation and will be brought to the Knesset for its preliminary reading on Wednesday.

The laws proponents — Likud MKs Hanoch Milwidsky and Amit Halevi — claim the legislation is necessary because “even during the war, critical documents regarding the enemy’s intentions did not reach the desks of decision-makers in the political leadership.”

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

An official tells the Ynet news site that the Prime Minister’s Office already had access to the documents in question in the Feldstein case, indicating the legislation is unnecessary.

The case comes in response to charges against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesman Eli Feldstein and an unnamed IDF reservist relating to their alleged involvement in the leak of classified intelligence information to the foreign press.

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

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

While the law has been dubbed the “Feldstein Law,” Eli Feldstein is not a soldier and there has been no evidence to suggest that he gave the stolen documents to any lawmaker, including Netanyahu.