What we know about the secret Gaza documents allegedly leaked by Benjamin Netanyahu aide
Benjamin Netanyahu is denying his staffers were involved in the leak of classified information.
A controversy is unfolding in Israel over the leak of classified military documents to international media that prosecutors say may have harmed efforts to free hostages held by Hamas.
An aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been charged.
He is accused of passing on top-secret information with the intent to sway public opinion and damage state security.
An Israeli soldier was separately charged for handing over the documents, which were allegedly retrieved from Gaza.
Relatives of Israeli hostages protest in Tel Aviv.
Mr Netanyahu has not been charged, but questions have been raised by opposition politicians, Israeli media and hostage families over his involvement.
There has been speculation the leaks were aimed at giving the prime minister political cover over failed ceasefire talks in September.
The information emerged days after six hostages were found executed in a Hamas tunnel in southern Gaza, which sparked mass protests in Israel and outraged hostage families.
Mr Netanyahu's office has denied any wrongdoing, downplaying the affair and publicly calling for the gag order to be lifted.
The prime minister said the person in question "never participated in security discussions, was not exposed to or received classified information, and did not take part in secret visits".
A full picture of the case is yet to emerge, but the indictment and other legal documents tell part of the story.
This is what we know.
How it all started
At the centre of the case is an article published in Germany's tabloid newspaper the Bild on September 6.
It was labelled as an exclusive and claimed to outline the hostage plans of Hamas.
The report cited documents said to have been taken from the computer of the organisation's then-leader, Yahya Sinwar.
The documents detailed how the militant group was purportedly drawing out ceasefire and hostage talks as a form of psychological warfare to increase public pressure on the Israeli government.
The documents were claimed to be taken from Hamas's then-leader Yahya Sinwar.
The article came out as the United States, Qatar and Egypt were mediating ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, which also included a deal to release hostages.
Hamas rejected the demand and accused Mr Netanyahu of deliberately sabotaging the talks.
Israel blamed Hamas for the deadlock.
Mr Netanyahu pointed to the article after it was published, saying it vindicated his hardline position on a hostage deal.
"Last weekend, the German newspaper Bild published an official Hamas document that revealed its action plan: To sow discord among us, to use psychological warfare on the hostages' families … to tear us apart from within, and to continue the war until further notice," he said in remarks ahead of a cabinet meeting.
A Palestinian security officer opens a gate to the Philadelphi Corridor between Egypt and Gaza before the recent Israel-Gaza war.
Another article had appeared earlier in the London-based Jewish Chronicle newspaper claiming that Sinwar planned to smuggle himself and Israeli hostages out of Gaza through the border area with Egypt known as the Philadelphi Corridor.
In the ceasefire talks, Mr Netanyahu was also calling for lasting Israeli control over the Philadelphi Corridor.
The Jewish Chronicle later withdrew the article.
Next, the arrests
An investigation was launched into the articles, jointly conducted by the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency, the Israeli police and the military.
Little had been known about the case until the Rishon Le-Zion Magistrates' Court partially lifted a gag order late last month.
It revealed that several arrests had been made, and identified the central suspect in the case as Eli Feldstein.
Mr Feldstein was one of Mr Netanyahu's media advisers, according to Israeli media reports.
The magistrate's ruling said classified and sensitive intelligence information was illegally taken from Israel Defense Forces (IDF) systems, which may have caused "serious damage to the state's security and posed a risk to information sources".
"As a result, there could have been damage to the security forces' ability to achieve the goal of releasing the hostages, as part of the war objectives," it said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands before a map of the Gaza Strip saying Israel must retain control over the "Philadelphi corridor", during a news conference.
The court referred to Mr Feldstein as a "civilian" and said three other suspects in the case were members of the military and security establishment.
They have not been publicly named.
The media reported that Mr Feldstein was hired weeks after October 7, 2023, and previously worked as an adviser to far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Mr Netanyahu has said the person in question "never participated in security discussions, was not exposed to or received classified information, and did not take part in secret visits".
Indictment reveals more details
An Israeli state attorney has now indicted Mr Feldstein.
He has been charged with leaking classified information with the intent of harming state security and obstruction of justice.
An Israeli soldier was also charged, accused of passing on the documents.
Both men deny the charges, which carry lengthy prison terms.
The indictment identified two other Netanyahu aides as being connected to the incident, but they were not charged.
Rather than leaking the information to Israeli media, Mr Feldstein is accused of handing it to Bild to bypass local censors, who would have banned its publication.
The indictment said the two suspects had created a mechanism for passing on information that bypassed accepted protocols for sharing such documents.
"The two charged suspects acted in order to extract information that was classified to the most confidential level, while taking the concrete risk of causing serious harm to critical national security interests," it said.
It added that the the leaks were meant "to create media influence on the public discourse in Israel in regards to the handling of the hostage situation, after the news of the murder of six hostages".
Asked about the investigation earlier this month, Bild said that it did not comment on its sources.
"The authenticity of the document known to us was confirmed by the IDF immediately after publication," it said.
The country reacts
Mr Netanyahu has faced criticism from families of the hostages in Gaza, who blame him for the failure to reach a deal.
They were among the tens of thousands of protesters taking to the streets, accusing the prime minister of torpedoing the ceasefire talks for political reasons.
Hamas has said there would be no hostages-for-prisoners swap deal with Israel unless the war in the Palestinian enclave ended.
Protesters gather demanding a ceasefire and the release of hostages held in Gaza, in Tel Aviv in May.
The militant group, which Australia lists as a terrorist organisation, stormed southern Israel on October 7 last year, taking about 250 hostages to Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.
About 1,200 people were killed in the terror attacks.
Israel's subsequent strikes on Gaza have claimed the lives of more than 43,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
About 97 people taken captive by Hamas on October 7, 2023, remain in Gaza.
At least a third of them have been declared dead by Israeli authorities.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group that represents many of the families of the hostages still held in Gaza, has called the leaks "one of the greatest frauds in the country's history".
"The [hostage] families demand an investigation against all those suspected of sabotage and undermining state security," the forum said in a statement.
The Bild article came out six days after Hamas killed a group of hostages as Israeli troops closed in on them.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said Mr Netanyahu was either incompetent or "complicit in one of the most serious security offences" on the books.
In a video posted to social media, the prime minister called the investigation a "witch-hunt" targeting him and his advisers.
ABC/Wires
By：ABC(责任编辑：admin)
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