Netanyahu aide on trial in new case troubling Israeli PM

As the corruption trial of Benjamin Netanyahu resumed this week, Israel was gripped by another scandal involving the prime minister and the alleged leaking of classified documents.

Eli Feldstein, a former adviser to Netanyahu, is accused in the case of leaking a classified document related to hostage negotiations in Gaza to shift critical media coverage of the Israeli leader.

The case, critics say, highlights deep-seated corruption inside his office, including attempts to sway public opinion amid a divisive war.

It also casts a spotlight on disciplinary issues faced by the Israeli military during the wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

Feldstein, who was released to house arrest on Tuesday, allegedly received the classified information from a reservist noncommissioned officer who has not yet been named.

In a combative press conference on Monday, Netanyahu said the charges against Feldstein were a part of a broader attack against him and his supporters.

"I do not intend to get involved in ongoing investigations, but I want to talk about this here as well," Netanyahu said in response to a question from a journalist about the affair.

He said he was shocked by the investigation and the methods used by law enforcement officials to extract information, adding the overarching goal was to get his former aides to give up sensitive information about him.

- Life sentence -

Both Feldstein, who served as an unofficial aide to Netanyahu, and the unnamed soldier, were indicted last month on charges of compromising state security.

Feldstein leaked a document to German newspaper Bild that detailed apparent Hamas tactics in the negotiations for a hostage release and ceasefire.

The information in the document has since been dismissed by the army as not accurately reflecting Hamas's upper leadership.

Feldstein and the unnamed soldier had been held in police custody for more than two months and the charges against them are serious enough to carry a life sentence.

Prosecutors have alleged the adviser had political motives in leaking the document.

They allege he was in possession of the document from July, but only chose to leak it to the media in September, after the murder of six high-profile hostages by Hamas in late August, with the aim of alleviating public criticism of the prime minister.

Feldstein's case has sparked a fierce response from Netanyahu and his allies.

Netanyahu and his supporters have decried Feldstein's arrest and indictment as a political witch-hunt and an abuse of the legal system.

In a lengthy video clip released on November 24, Netanyahu said the Feldstein case was "selective law enforcement" aimed at harming him and his right-wing camp.

Some of Netanyahu's supporters accuse the defence establishment of seeking revenge against Netanyahu and his government, which has pointed a finger of blame at the military, the Shin Bet security agency and the Mossad spy agency as being responsible for the failures that enabled Hamas to attack Israel on October 7, 2023 -– sparking the ongoing war in Gaza.

In a direct response to Feldstein's indictment, ministers in Netanyahu's coalition have even advanced legislation that would allow soldiers -- and other members of the defence establishment -- to pass classified intelligence, even without authorisation, to the prime minister or defence minister.

- 'Manipulates public opinion' -

Barak Medina, a professor of law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said the case had drawn attention because of Netanyahu's involvement, even though the prime minister himself is not indicted.

"Feldstein's lawyer has argued that Netanyahu approved giving this document to Bild and while it is common for politicians to leak information to the press, what was done here was directly related to a possible hostage deal," he told AFP.

Medina said it points to the possibility that "Netanyahu manipulates public opinion".

"The other aspect has to do with concern over a lack of discipline in the (military)", the professor said.

Medina pointed to international accusations that Israeli soldiers may have committed war crimes in Gaza and to fears the military was being politicised.

"There is a concern that there are people within the army who are closely coordinated with senior politicians from the radical right-wing, some who are part of the government, and that creates a tension of whether those people are taking orders from the Chief of Staff or from politicians," Medina said.

On Tuesday, Netanyahu testified in court for the first time after being accused of corruption, which he dismissed as "ridiculous".

He became Israel's first sitting premier to face criminal trial, in which he faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of public trust.