An Israeli court on Sunday lifted a gag order on the identity of a suspect in the alleged leaking of classified documents concerning Hamas hostages in Gaza. His name is Eli Feldstein, and he had worked as a spokesperson on military affairs in the Prime Minister’s Office.
Feldstein, whose identity was made known by the Rishon Lezion District Court, is suspected of leaking Hamas documents obtained by Israel that suggest the terrorist group is not interested in a ceasefire deal and is only using ceasefire talks to increase domestic pressure on the government.
He is suspected of unlawful handling of classified material and harming state security, and is to remain in custody until arraignment on Tuesday along with two additional suspects, whose names are still under a gag order. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has denied the premier initiated the alleged leak, saying he learned of it from the media.
Feldstein, 32, had risen through the ranks of the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, eventually becoming the spokesman of the 877th Judea and Samaria Division of IDF Central Command.
According to the Walla news site, Feldstein had served as a spokesperson for Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir before resigning last year to become a spokesperson at the PMO under its director, Yossi Shelly. According to Walla, Feldstein did not have the security clearance necessary for classified materials dealt with in the prime minister’s immediate circle.
Critics of Netanyahu have presented the affair as fresh evidence that he is working to thwart a deal with Hamas for the hostages’ release. His advocates have argued that the documents prove no such deal was feasible, and accused authorities of selectively investigating this alleged leak while ignoring others.
Advocates of a deal with Hamas are pushing for far-reaching concessions to the terrorist group to retrieve the remaining 101 hostages it is holding. Opponents warn that doing this will incentivize additional abductions and allow Hamas to evade or counteract Israel’s ongoing efforts to dismantle it.
In a statement, Netanyahu’s office said he had “learned about the document from the media.” Feldstein, the statement said without naming him, was never exposed to classified material.
Furthermore, the statement added, “The document only helped the effort to retrieve the hostages, and certainly did not compromise it,” as it “exposed Hamas’s methods for applying psychological pressure domestically and abroad on the government and Israeli society, by blaming Israel for the failure of talks to retrieve the hostages, when everyone knows—as has been confirmed repeatedly by U.S. officials—that Hamas is preventing the deal.”
Netanyahu had requested that the attorney general lift the gag order on the affair, his office said on Sunday.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid of the Yesh Atid Party said in a speech in Tel Aviv on Saturday that the investigation shows that Netanyahu tried to “torpedo the hostage deal, incite against hostages’ relatives and deceive the public about the war’s objectives,” one of which is securing the hostages’ return.
Hamas is believed to be holding 101 hostages out of the 251 it abducted on Oct. 7, 2023.
