The police have arrested one of the senior aides to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on suspicion of leaking classified information to the media. This was reported by CNN on November 4.
In Israel, Eliezer Feldstein, who had long been working in the press service of the Israel Defense Forces and became Netanyahu's aide in 2022, has been detained. Alongside him, three employees of the country’s intelligence services have also been arrested. They are suspected of leaking classified information to the British publication The Jewish Chronicle and the German outlet Bild.
These publications reported in September about the intention of the terrorist group Hamas to secretly transport Israeli hostages from Gaza to Egypt. They also mentioned that Palestinians aim to divide Israeli society by blaming the Prime Minister and his supporters for the failure of peace negotiations.
«The theses in the published materials resemble statements made by Netanyahu at a press conference on September 2, just days after the bodies of six murdered hostages were found in a tunnel in Gaza. During the press conference, the Prime Minister also referred to a document discovered from jihadists regarding a plan to transfer hostages to Egypt and pressure on Israeli society», CNN added.
Netanyahu's press office denied any information leaks from the Prime Minister's office and stated that Feldstein was never involved in discussions related to security.
It is worth noting that earlier reports indicated that an American, Jeremy Loffredo, was arrested in Israel for gathering information about the aftermath of an Iranian missile strike under the guise of a journalist.