Israel intelligence leak could spark 'political earthquake' for Netanyahu

Investigation under way into whether his office illegally obtained and disseminated classified material to scupper a hostage deal

Investigators have arrested a close aide of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in connection with the leaks scandal. Reuters

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is engulfed in yet another political scandal. In what is being called “BibiLeaks”, after his nickname, the country's internal security service Shin Bet is looking into whether the Prime Minister’s office colluded with intelligence officers to disseminate classified material to foreign media outlets to sway domestic opinion on a Gaza hostage deal.

The case raises questions about the operational security of Israel’s prized intelligence services, the protection of the sources they use and whether there is a dangerous willingness among Israel’s ruling class to exploit intelligence for the political gain of Mr Netanyahu.

Several suspects are accused of passing on highly classified material that was then leaked to foreign media in a manner that benefited the Prime Minister. The courts have ruled that their actions could have seriously harmed national security and sabotaged the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza. The fate of these captives is one of the most traumatic political issues Israel has faced, with Mr Netanyahu accused both domestically and abroad, including by the Biden administration, of compromising efforts to save them while continuing a full-throttled war in Gaza.

The fate of Israel's hostages in Gaza is one of the main political issues in the country. Reuters

On Monday, a campaign representing families of the hostages called for an urgent investigation into the scandal, saying it indicated “one of the greatest frauds in the country’s history”.

“This is a moral low point like no other. It is a severe blow to the remaining trust between the government and its citizens,” they said.

One suspect was released on Sunday. Eli Feldstein, a spokesman for Mr Netanyahu and a close adviser, is still on remand, along with two defence and intelligence officials. Mr Feldstein’s detention has been extended for another six days as Shin Bet investigates. On Monday, the agency also arrested a junior military officer.

Suspicion among security agencies that something was amiss was aroused in September, after German tabloid Bild reported on a supposed Hamas document found by Israel’s military in Gaza, which Mr Netanyahu then cited as evidence that those advocating a hostage deal were falling for a ploy set by late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

The same week, UK-based outlet The Jewish Chronicle published a false report that Mr Sinwar had been plotting to smuggle hostages and himself out of Gaza through the Salah Al Din (also known as the Philadelphi Corridor), a string of land along Gaza’s border with Egypt. The article was based on Israeli intelligence that turned out to be fake.

Mr Netanyahu commented on these stories, using them as evidence to back up his controversial insistence on Israel keeping control of the corridor, which has been a major sticking point with Hamas in hostage negotiations. That Mr Netanyahu referred directly to the foreign media reports has raised suspicions about what he knew, and determining his role will be a top priority for investigators.

Mr Netanyahu is accused of wanting to prolong the war in Gaza to stay in office. Reuters

Hamas is believed to be holding about 100 hostages in Gaza, with as many as 40 of them presumed dead, according to the Israeli military. They were seized by the group on October 7 last year when Hamas launched a cross-border attack on southern Israel, killing 1,200 people. The subsequent war in Gaza has killed about 43,400 Palestinians, the enclave's Health Ministry estimates.

Senior Israeli politicians have voiced outrage over the leaks scandal. Benny Gantz, who used to sit on a war cabinet assembled by Mr Netanyahu after the October 7 attacks, said on X that “if sensitive security information was stolen and used as a tool in a political survival campaign, it’s not just a criminal offence, it’s a national crime”.

Mitchell Barak, an Israeli pollster who served as an aide to Mr Netanyahu when he was a deputy minister, told The National the episode is “earth shattering”.

He said Mr Netanyahu “may be in big legal trouble” and there are “people that can seriously go to jail, both in the army and in his office”.

“Not only does this undermine trust in the Prime Minister, it undermines trust in the army,” Mr Barak said. "The army was always off limits for politics but now it really seems that information from it was used to sway public opinion. It’s a political earthquake, a military earthquake. Everything is here.”

On Tuesday, Israeli police released a statement saying they were conducting a separate probe into "criminal incidents", which also appears to involve Mr Netanyahu's office, although much of the issue remains under a gag order.

The police statement said that the Lahav 433 investigations unit, which investigates corruption among other serious crimes, "is conducting a criminal probe related to incidents from the start of the war, including several open investigations".