Several suspects arrested amid probe of PM’s office over alleged classified intel leak

Several suspects have been arrested for questioning in connection with an ongoing investigation into the alleged leak of classified documents from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, a judge revealed Friday.

Judge Menachem Mizrahi of the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court said authorities suspect that the leak harmed the achievement of Israel’s war aims, as he partially lifted a gag order regarding the incident dubbed the “security affair.”

Mizrahi confirmed that over the past week, the Shin Bet, Israel Police and the Israel Defense Forces began the “open phase” of their joint investigation into a suspected “breach of national security caused by the unlawful provision of classified information.”

The leak, he said, posed a risk to “sensitive information and intelligence sources,” and harmed efforts to achieve “the goals of the war in the Gaza Strip.”

“Several suspects were arrested for questioning, and the investigation is ongoing,” he said, without giving further details on the identities of the suspects, or whether any of them were aides to the premier.

In response to the announcement, Netanyahu’s office issued a statement asserting that no one on staff has been arrested as part of the probe. However, some analysts noted that the premier has aides who work for him but are not formally employed by his office.

According to Channel 12 news, the war aim in question was related to a potential hostage deal, with its report saying that suspects in the case selectively leaked and twisted Hamas documents obtained by the IDF regarding the terror group’s strategy in the hostage talks.

The alleged leaks led to a pair of reports in the German newspaper Bild and the British outlet The Jewish Chronicle regarding Hamas’s strategy that were nearly identical to points made by Netanyahu in interviews and press conferences shortly beforehand, including a claim that Hamas sought to smuggle Israeli hostages out of Gaza through the Philadelphi Corridor.

Netanyahu in July added conditions to an earlier Israeli hostage proposal, demanding that Israel maintain its forces along the Egypt-Gaza border stretch, in what critics claimed was an effort to thwart an agreement with Hamas.

While Israel’s security establishment argued against this new demand, the premier was backed by his far-right coalition partners who had threatened to topple the government if the original Israeli proposal was seen through.

A source close to one of those arrested, and who Channel 12 said was still being held, told the outlet that the individual was “thrown under the bus” by the premier.

“He worked for Netanyahu and was an adviser to him over the past year and a half. He has dedicated his life to the prime minister and would endanger himself for him. The moment [the scandal] erupted, Netanyahu threw him under the bus and even lies by saying he doesn’t work for him,” the source said.

“He not only worked for Bibi, he was at the [PM’s] office every day, sat with him in the ‘aquarium’ [at the PMO], accompanied him on every visit, sat in all the consultations, traveled with the prime minister in his convoy,” the source said. “It’s unbelievable that a confidant is thrown to the wolves in an instant. Netanyahu would call him personally every day, send him on missions, and consult with him.”

Channel 12 aired a number of blurred images of the suspect, including one showing him in a room with Netanyahu and a number of other ministers, ostensibly disproving the premier’s claim that he did not work with him.

The broadcaster also said that there were suspicions of potential leaks from other ministerial offices. No further details were given.

The growing scandal involves a spokesperson in the Prime Minister’s Office who was allegedly hired despite failing to receive security clearance.

Channel 12 said Friday that Netanyahu was warned of the issue with the individual’s security clearance, but did nothing about it. The individual continued to have access to classified documents, and accompanied the premier to secret and classified locations.

The partial lifting of the gag order and reporting of new details came a day after Netanyahu and several Israeli media outlets requested that the military censor approve for publication the details of the incident.

A court hearing on petitions against the gag order is scheduled for Sunday.

The heart of the matter

While the overall picture of the so-called affair remains somewhat unclear due to the censor, it is centered around two key events that took place in recent months.

The first incident concerned leaks earlier this year to Bild and The Jewish Chronicle. In September, the IDF launched an investigation into the matter.

The Chronicle eventually removed a series of stories pertaining to the purported Hamas documents and ended its association with the author after serious doubts emerged regarding the veracity of his reporting.

The documents’ alleged contents, which claimed that Hamas is seeking to sow division in the Israeli public and that the terror group is not seeking to reach a deal quickly, corresponded with arguments made by Netanyahu in interviews and press conferences around the time of their publication.

The IDF said that the document cited by Bild was found in Gaza some five months earlier, and was not written by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar — who has since been killed by Israeli forces — but that it was a recommendation paper drawn up by a mid-level Hamas officer.

The second matter concerns a security affairs spokesman who has been working in the Prime Minister’s Office for the past year despite having failed to receive the necessary security clearance from the Shin Bet.

The Kan public broadcaster reported that the spokesman had continued to work for the premier in an unofficial capacity and that Netanyahu had been trying in recent months to hire him as an external adviser, which would allow him to be paid for his services.

In his capacity as an acting spokesman, Kan reported that the individual had regularly participated in consultation with Netanyahu’s chief of staff Tzachi Braverman, as well as the premier’s spokespeople and advisers.

It added that he would also visit Netanyahu’s office at the Kirya military headquarters.

According to Channel 12 news, a third matter that aroused suspicion in recent weeks was a meeting between Braverman, another PMO official Jonatan Urich, and Netanyahu’s personal attorney Amit Hadad.

Hadad represents Netanyahu in the various corruption charges the prime minister is facing amid his ongoing trial.

Netanyahu himself requested that the gag order on the affair be revoked following requests from several media outlets.

A statement released by his office said that he was demanding “to remove immediately the gag order on the supposed ‘secret affair.'”

“The ongoing obfuscation serves as a cover for deliberate and malicious slander against the Prime Minister’s Office,” he added.

Lapid: Danger from within

On Friday, Opposition chairman Yair Lapid weighed in on the growing scandal over the allegations.

“Netanyahu is already trying, as usual, to distance himself from the affair and to place responsibility on others, but the facts show the opposite: he is personally responsible for every paper, word, or piece of information that comes out of his office,” Lapid wrote on X.

“We have tough enemies abroad, but the danger from within and at the most sensitive decision-making centers shakes the foundations of the confidence of the citizens of Israel in the prosecution of the war, and in handling the most sensitive and explosive security issues,” he added.

National Unity chair Benny Gantz also chimed in, tweeting, “Without going into the details of the case under investigation concerning activity in the Prime Minister’s Office, it is important to emphasize one thing: the prime minister is the one responsible for what is done in his office. For better or for worse.”

Netanyahu’s office hit back, insisting that there have been no leaks from his office, while there were dozens of leaks published in the media about the hostage negotiations, which were harmful to the premier, and none of those were investigated.

“It was not for nothing that Prime Minister Netanyahu demanded the immediate removal of the gag order over the investigation. The ongoing obfuscation is intended to tarnish his office,” the statement read.