State appeals Feldstein’s release; his lawyer says PM knew of plan to leak intel to media
Netanyahu aide, accused of transferring classified information to foreign media with the intent to harm state security, was set for house arrest but will stay in custody for now
State prosecutors on Wednesday appealed the Tel Aviv District Court’s order to release to house arrest Eli Feldstein, an aide and spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with an Israel Defense Forces reservist. Both have been charged for the alleged leak of classified documents to the foreign press.
The appeal prevented the two from being released to house arrest for now.
Meanwhile, Feldstein’s lawyer said his client had told investigators that the prime minister had been aware the document was being leaked to the media ahead of time, though Netanyahu did not explicitly order the action.
The presiding judge warned during a Tuesday hearing that he did not see sufficient evidence to justify the state’s charge that Feldstein had intended to harm national security, but did indicate there was “clear” evidence that Feldstein knowingly breached military censorship when leaking a stolen classified IDF document.
Feldstein and the second unnamed suspect have been held in custody for more than a month on suspicion of leaking the stolen classified intelligence information. The soldier is accused of leaking the military intelligence to Feldstein. Feldstein is accused of transferring classified information with the intent to harm state security, a charge that can carry a sentence of life in prison, as well as illicit possession of classified information and obstruction of justice.
Feldstein’s lawyer, Oded Savoray, said on Wednesday that during his interrogation, Feldstein “decided to stop taking the fall for the premier and his office.”
“He did not say that Netanyahu ordered the document to be released to foreign media, but that [Netanyahu] knew about the document and the plan to release it to the media.”
The Kan broadcaster reported, without citing sources, that Feldstein said he notified the prime minister two days before he leaked the document to the German newspaper Bild.
A Channel 13 report Tuesday night gave a more detailed account of Feldstein’s testimony. It quoted Feldstein telling investigators he did not initially give the document to Netanyahu — “because that was not my job; it was the job of the prime minister’s military attache.” Rather, Feldstein reportedly testified, “I asked to utilize the classified material in order to influence debate in the media and public opinion.”
Channel 13 reported that Feldstein also told investigators that after Netanyahu held a press conference following Hamas’s murder of six Israeli hostages at the end of August, he “whispered in the prime minister’s ear” about the document, and therefore he felt that he was acting on behalf of the political echelon. (Netanyahu gave a press conference on September 2 and another, for the foreign press, on September 4. The Bild article reporting on the document was published on September 6.)
Netanyahu has sought to distance himself from the case, insisting that he only learned of the existence of the classified document from the media.
The case is centered around the alleged leak of a highly classified document to Bild in September, which ostensibly detailed Hamas’s priorities and tactics in hostage negotiations with the alleged aim of turning public opinion against a deal. It later became apparent the document was written by lower-level officials in the terror group and did not necessarily reflect the leadership’s position.
The document was allegedly unlawfully removed from the IDF’s military intelligence database by the reservist — a non-commissioned officer (NCO) — who gave it to Feldstein, who then saw to it that it was transferred to Bild, though he was aware that it was obtained illicitly and that the military censorship had barred the information from publication.
