The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is at the centre of a new political storm related to a hostage deal in the Gaza war after the arrest of several people in connection with an alleged leak of classified documents from his office.
An Israeli court announced the arrests on Friday afternoon, before the beginning of Shabbat, saying that a joint investigation by the police, internal security services and the army suspected a “breach of national security caused by the unlawful provision of classified information”, which had also “harmed the achievement of Israel’s war aims”.
One of those arrested is believed to be spokesperson for the prime minister.
While most details are still subject to a partial gag order, Israeli media has reported that the war aim in question is the release of the 101 Israeli hostages still held by Hamas. The suspects are alleged to have selectively leaked Hamas strategy documents found by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Gaza, and manipulated or edited the material to make it seem as though the Palestinian militant group sought to smuggle hostages to Egypt, and then to Iran or Yemen.
In September, Netanyahu made this claim in interviews and news conferences in support of a fresh demand he had made in ceasefire and hostage release deal talks: the need for Israeli troops to remain on the Gaza-Egypt border. The demand was rejected by Hamas on the grounds it was not part of the terms both sides had already conditionally accepted, and was a major reason that months of negotiations failed.
Netanyahu has been accused repeatedly of stalling on a deal in order to avoid the collapse of his coalition government. Anything short of a total victory over Hamas is anathema to his far-right allies, and he is believed to see staying in office as the best way of avoiding prosecution in fraud, bribery and breach of trust cases filed in 2019. He denies any wrongdoing.
Shortly after the Israeli leader first mentioned the supposed Hamas plan, reports apparently based on the same doctored material appeared in the British outlet The Jewish Chronicle and the German tabloid Bild, which were picked up widely by the Israeli media.
Worried that the articles’ publication would jeopardise intelligence-gathering efforts in Gaza, the Israeli army launched an investigation into the leak, announcing that it was “unaware of any such document existing”. The Jewish Chronicle later retracted the story and fired the journalist who wrote it.
The prime minister’s office on Friday said no one who worked for Netanyahu has been questioned or detained, but on Saturday did not deny that the leak may have originated from his office. Dozens of other leaks related to ceasefire and hostage release negotiations have appeared in media reports, it pointed out, without triggering investigations.
The charges are understood to be related to the leaking of classified documents, negligence in handling the material, and using it to influence public opinion, as well as the improper hiring of an adviser without adequate security clearance.
News of the arrests has been met with fury by the prime minister’s detractors in the bitterly politically divided country. On Saturday night, thousands of people across Israel joined what are now weekly demonstrations in favour of a deal.
The opposition leader, Yair Lapid, wrote on X: “We have tough enemies abroad, but the danger from within and at the most sensitive decision-making centres shakes the foundations of the confidence of the citizens of Israel in the prosecution of the war, and in handling the most sensitive and explosive security issues.”
