From the Liveblog of
Saturday, November 2, 2024
Netanyahu’s office denies claims one of PM’s aides leaked Hamas document to German paper
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office denies that one of the premier’s aides leaked a classified Hamas document to a German newspaper, amid an investigation into the matter.
“The published document never reached the Prime Minister’s Office from the IDF Military Intelligence Directorate, and the Prime Minister learned about it from the media,” says the PMO.
In September, Bild published a document indicating that Hamas’s main concern in ceasefire negotiations with Israel is to rehabilitate its military capabilities, and not to alleviate the suffering of Gaza’s civilian population. The spring 2024 document, which Bild said it had obtained exclusively, without offering further details, was reportedly found on a computer in Gaza that belonged to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
The PMO also claims that the suspect, a spokesman for the prime minister, “never participated in security discussions, was not exposed or received classified information, and did not take part in secret visits.”
The PMO calls it “ridiculous” to allege that a sympathetic article “caused any damage to the negotiations for the release of the hostages, or to the security of Israel,” as investigators claim.
“On the contrary – the document only helped the effort to return the hostages, and certainly did not harm it,” says the PMO. “The document and the article exposed the Hamas methods of exerting psychological pressure from home and abroad on the Israeli government and public by blaming Israel for the failure of the talks to release the hostages. This at a time when everyone knows – as has been repeatedly confirmed by senior American officials – that Hamas is the one preventing the execution of the deal.”
Netanyahu’s office claims there has been a “flood” of leaks from confidential meetings throughout the war.
“It is very curious why out of all these leaks, this particular document – the contents of which were known to everyone and helped Israel – was given such an aggressive and systematic investigation,” the PMO concludes.
