Report: Senior Netanyahu aide maintained contact with Feldstein amid downplaying of ties

A senior aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu maintained ongoing contact in recent months with Eli Feldstein, a central figure in two high-profile scandals linked to the Prime Minister’s Office, despite official downplaying of any formal connection, Channel 12 reports.

According to the report, Feldstein – who has been implicated in both the so-called Bild affair and the Qatargate scandal – held at least two meetings over the past month with Topaz Luk, a former Netanyahu spokesman who currently serves as a senior adviser to the premier and is considered one of his closest confidants.

Channel 12 says the contact continued even after restrictions were imposed on Feldstein, with sources in the Prime Minister’s Office describing the relationship as personal rather than professional.

Last week, Netanyahu’s Likud party downplayed Feldstein’s ties to the premier, though he was widely known as Netanyahu’s spokesman for military affairs and regularly briefed reporters under that auspice throughout the war.

The report adds that the contact between Feldstein and Luk has recently been curtailed, amid public exchanges of accusations on social media. Requests for comment from the Prime Minister’s Office and from Luk were not answered, Channel 12 says.