Suspected PMO leaker set for release to house arrest Sunday; 2nd PM aide questioned
Netanyahu spokesperson Jonatan Urich also questioned under caution; in separate case, PM’s chief of staff Braverman said to admit he changed timestamp on a crucial Oct. 7 call
Eli Feldstein, a spokesman who worked with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the central suspect in the PMO security documents leak scandal, will remain in custody over the weekend, Hebrew media reported on Friday.
Feldstein had been expected to be released to house arrest on Friday following a ruling by the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court, but his release was pushed off until Sunday following appeals filed by the Israel Police and the Shin Bet.
The appeals were rejected by the Lod District Court, but the delay in proceedings means that Feldstein could only be released at the start of next week.
According to reports, an indictment against Feldstein and another suspect in the case is expected in the coming days.
Also Friday, Hebrew media reported that Jonatan Urich, one of Netanyahu’s spokespeople and advisers, was questioned Thursday by police, under caution, in one of the ongoing investigations.
Officers came to Urich’s home and seized his phone, Channel 13 reported, after which Urich presented himself for questioning, with the phone remaining in police custody.
Urich has been involved in several controversies in the past, including allegedly harassing a state’s witness in Netanyahu’s corruption trial.
In recent weeks, courts have partially lifted gag orders placed on ongoing security-related probes into Netanyahu’s office. The premier, who is not a suspect in any of them. has said the pile-up of investigations amounts to a “witch hunt.”
In one of the cases, Feldstein is suspected of working with four intelligence soldiers to steal classified material from the IDF. Feldstein is reportedly suspected of leaking material from one document to the German publication Bild, whose publication is said to have harmed efforts to free Israeli hostages in Gaza and exposed Israeli intelligence sources.
This is also the case that Urich was questioned about, according to Channel 12.
Feldstein and another suspect, a military intelligence reservist, have been in remand for 20 days, part of the time without access to legal counsel.
The Shin Bet and police had petitioned the Rishon Lezion Magistrate Court late Thursday to extend the remands of both Feldstein and the reservist. The court rejected the motion and accused the investigators of “wearing the shell of a slow-walking turtle.”
The court ordered both suspects to be released to house arrest. Feldstein is forbidden from talking to other suspects in the case, has been prevented from leaving the country for 180 days, and is not allowed to use the internet or messaging applications until November 25, Ynet said. He is also reportedly forbidden from visiting his workplace or any army bases until January and February, respectively.
The news site quoted a police official criticizing “excess zeal” in the case. The criticism comes after Hebrew reports last week that police believe the intelligence theft was not systematic, and thinks the Shin Bet and State Attorney are blowing it out of proportion. The latter two agencies, on the other hand, reportedly accuse police of downplaying the case.
On Wednesday, the reservist’s attorney, Micha Fettman, said his client had sent Netanyahu classified material, against protocol, believing it would facilitate a hostage deal. Fettman said the transfer was done via Feldstein, who told the reservist Netanyahu had received the documents, wanted more and would “clear out an entire day” for the matter.
Changed time stamps
In a separate investigation, Netanyahu’s chief of staff Tzachi Braverman is suspected of having altered the stated time at which the premier was first updated about the Hamas invasion on October 7, 2023, when thousands of terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
Hebrew media reported that Braverman admitted to police Thursday that he had changed the timestamp on minutes of a phone call the premier held the day of the Hamas onslaught that sparked the war in Gaza. According to Channel 12, Braverman said he hadn’t altered anything else, and changed the timestamp only because he knew it was incorrect.
Braverman allegedly changed the time of a phone call between Netanyahu and the premier’s then-military secretary, Maj. Gen. Avi Gil, from 6:40 a.m. to 6:29 a.m. — the minute when rocket sirens across Israel announced the start of the shock assault.
Braverman was questioned by the Israel Police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit for over five hours on Thursday and denied making any changes to the transcript besides altering the time.
During the interrogation, he reportedly told investigators: “I know that the first call was received at 6:29 a.m.; that’s why I insisted on changing it.”
According to the Haaretz daily, when Gil had phoned Netanyahu at 6:29 a.m. Netanyahu did not give any instructions, and asked Gil to call again in ten minutes, at 6:40 a.m.
It was only during the second phone call — which Braverman allegedly altered to appear as though it was the first — that Netanyahu ordered Gil to hold a situational assessment regarding the developing Hamas invasion in southern Israel, Haaretz said.
According to a New York Times report on Thursday that cited three officials briefed on the investigation, Gil told Netanyahu in one of the early October 7 calls “that hundreds of Hamas operatives had started behaving in a way that suggested that they may be about to invade Israel.”
The IDF said earlier this year that “several indicative signs accumulated” in the hours before the Oct. 7 onslaught, which security chiefs missed, which included the activation of dozens of SIM cards by Hamas members, in the hours before the attack, that security services knew could be used by terrorists in a potential raid on Israeli communities.
Channel 12 reported Thursday that Braverman allegedly first attempted to persuade a stenographer to change the time written in the transcript, insisting that it was incorrectly stated as 6:40 a.m., but she refused, and Braverman then changed it himself.
The network had reported in August that Netanyahu’s office had taken the extraordinary step of selecting the premier’s office manager for the non-political role of stenographer. The network noted the move was effectively a demotion. Netanyahu’s office said the war had created a greater need for stenographers.
Braverman was also questioned Thursday about allegations that he asked various PMO officials to provide him with transcripts of security meetings held by the Bennett-Lapid government in 2021, as well as transcripts of meetings held by Netanyahu during his previous terms in office.
He reportedly told the police that he had asked for the documents as it is his job “to review government meetings and security talks.” He insisted that he had not made any changes to the protocols, and returned them “as soon as the attorney general issued a letter that the protocols should be returned and that they should not be removed from where they are kept.”
According to the report, Braverman’s release at the end of his five-hour interrogation hinged on the condition that he not contact any other suspects involved in the case.
