Netanyahu collaborator investigated for preventing agreement with Hamas

Madrid. The Israeli judicial authorities reported this Sunday that they are investigating four suspects of leaking secret documents to prevent an agreement with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), among whom is Eliezer Feldstein, one of the closest collaborators of the Israeli prime minister. , Benjamin Netanyahu.

Judge Menahem Mizrahi of the Rishon Letsiyon court this Sunday lifted the embargo order on the information in what is considered one of the most serious leaks in the history of Israel and the name of Feldstein, who works in the press office of the Prime Minister’s Office and has been spokesperson for the leader of the far-right Jewish Power party and Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir.

“The investigation began after raising suspicions in the Shin Bet – secret services for the interior and Palestinian territories – and in the IDF – Israel Defense Forces – and by the publication in the media of classified and sensitive information taken from the IDF system and illegally withdrawn,” the judge explained, according to the newspaper The Jerusalem Post.

Specifically, the secret documents were published by the German tabloid Bild and for the British Jewish Chronicle. This caused “concern about serious damage to national security and endangering sources of information.” “This could harm the ability of the security forces to achieve the objective of freeing the hostages, part of the objectives of the war,” he continues.

“Following this, a joint undercover investigation was launched by the Shin Bet, the IDF and the Israeli Police in which these suspicions were significantly reinforced,” he explained. “Accordingly, a formal investigation was opened in which four suspects are being investigated,” including a civilian, Feldstein.

The investigation remains active and is being carried out in accordance with the law under judicial supervision, according to the court, which warns that the publication of data from it could harm the investigation, its objectives and national security.

Feldstein entered the press office shortly after the start of the war. He was previously a spokesperson in the IDF and also Ben Gvir’s spokesperson as minister. However, he failed a Shin Bet security exam, making him an adviser in Netanyahu’s press office and not a formal worker.

Incompetent or complicit

Following the publication, the leader of the Israeli opposition, Yair Lapid, of the centrist Yesh Atid party, has demanded Netanyahu’s resignation because he considers that he is “incompetent or complicit” in the plot.

“Netanyahu’s defense is that he had no influence or control over the system he leads. If true, he is incompetent. He does not have the qualifications to lead the State of Israel in the most difficult war in its history,” Lapid said, according to pick up the diary The Times of Israel.

“This case has come from the Prime Minister’s Office. The investigation must prove whether it was by order of the prime minister or not. If Netanyahu knew it, he is complicit in one of the most serious security crimes included in the legislation. If he did not know that his collaborators were stealing documents, spying within the IDF, falsifying documents, exposing intelligence sources and leaking secret documents to foreign newspapers for the hostage deal, so what did he know?” he argued.

Benny Gantz has also denounced what happened because “the sanctum sanctorum of Israel’s security has been desecrated for political reasons” and “we have reached the testing phase.” “If sensitive security information is stolen and used as a tool in a political survival campaign, we are not facing a crime, but rather a national crime,” he argued.