Report: Senior IDF officer questioned on suspicion of alerting PM’s office to Bild leak probe

A senior officer who served under former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Herzi Halevi was questioned under caution Thursday on suspicion of passing details of the Bild leak affair investigation to the Prime Minister’s Office, Israeli television reported Friday.

Aides to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are suspected of leaking classified intelligence to the German tabloid in the summer of 2024 in order to influence Israeli public opinion over hostage negotiations with Hamas.

According to Channel 12 news, the officer was questioned on suspicion of leaking to Netanyahu’s chief of staff Tzachi Braverman that an investigation was underway, and is suspected of passing a list of names to the Prime Minister’s Office of those suspected of leaking the documents to Bild.

The report said the individual now serves in a senior and sensitive position in the IDF. His home was searched and his cellphone was seized, the outlet said.

Halevi, who led the military at the time that the classified documents were leaked, was questioned on Wednesday by investigators. He is not a suspect in the affair and was not questioned under caution, according to Hebrew media reports.

Channel 12 said Halevi told the investigators that while the unnamed officer was the point man with Netanyahu’s office and in contact with Braverman, he does not believe that the officer leaked information.

The Bild affair was triggered by the execution of six Israeli hostages at the hands of their Hamas captors, when Israeli troops approached the tunnel where they were located in the southern Gaza city of Rafah at the end of August 2024.

The execution sparked massive public uproar against the government, which critics saw as the obstacle in ceasefire negotiations due to Netanyahu’s perceived prioritization of an amorphous “total victory” over Hamas at the expense of hostages’ lives.

Earlier this week, Braverman was detained and questioned under caution for several hours over suspicions he attempted to obstruct the investigation into the leak. Braverman has since been barred from communicating with Netanyahu or entering the Prime Minister’s Office.

Netanyahu’s former spokesman Eli Feldstein, the key suspect in the affair, alleged last month that Braverman knew of a covert investigation into the leak months before it was publicized and had assured Feldstein that he’d be able to quash the probe when they met at an underground parking lot in the Kirya military headquarters.

Police also questioned Prime Minister’s Office spokesman Omer Mansour under caution, after Feldstein alleged that Mansour was also present in the parking garage during the covert meeting.