In recent days, the storm surrounding the document affair continues to make headlines, mainly due to various reports about the condition of the central detainee in the case, Eli Feldstein, and his interrogation by the Shin Bet.
According to a report today (Tuesday) on Kan Reshet Bet, Prime Minister's spokesman Jonathan Urich asked Eli Feldstein to confirm that he had handed over the secret document to the contact person at "Bild."
In the report, it was stated that Orich asked Feldstein to confirm that he had handed over the secret document to Shrolik Einhorn, who was referred to as "Chusid." According to the report, Einhorn was the contact person for the German newspaper. In the past, he served as an advisor to Netanyahu and continued to stay in touch with him and assist from afar.
It was reported that Feldstein approached Netanyahu before the leak and told him that he had a new document related to negotiations with Hamas. Netanyahu, for his part, expressed interest in the secret document, and a day after the bodies of the six abductees were found in a tunnel in the Gaza Strip, he presented a "guidelines document from Hamas leaders" in a statement to the media to justify the IDF's continued presence along the Philadelphi Route.
Shortly after the statement, Feldstein approached Netanyahu and told him about the document he had. Five days later, the document was published in the "Bild" newspaper. From the publication, the question arises whether Netanyahu knew about the leak and approved it.
Additionally, in recent days, new details about the affair have been published. According to the court's statement, the document was transferred in April from a reserve officer in the IDF Intelligence Directorate to Eli Feldstein, via social media.
In the next stage, Feldstein approached Israeli journalists in September with the aim of having them publish the document's content, presumably to influence public opinion in Israel regarding the negotiations for a hostage release deal and the issue of the protests' contribution to strengthening Hamas – and to point the accusing finger at Sinwar.
The military censorship prohibited journalists in Israel from publishing the content of the document, so Feldstein tried another way: he approached foreign media and simultaneously informed several journalists that the article was expected to be published abroad and asked them to follow up immediately upon its publication.
Following this, questions arose among media figures in Israel regarding the authenticity of the document on which the article abroad was based. To prove that it is an authentic document, Feldstein contacted the reservist officer once again and requested the original document. The reservist officer met with Feldstein and handed him a physical copy of the document, as well as two additional documents classified as "Top Secret."
Kan 11 reported the response from Prime Minister Netanyahu's office to the report: "The published document did not reach the Prime Minister's office from Military Intelligence, and the Prime Minister learned about it from the media. The person in question has never participated in security discussions, has not been exposed to or received classified information, and has not taken part in secret visits."
"In general, it is ridiculous to say that publishing a pro-Israel article in a German newspaper—where a document of its kind had previously been published with approval and authority—caused any damage to the negotiations for the release of the hostages or to Israel's security."
"On the contrary, the document only aided the effort to bring back the hostages, and certainly did not harm it. The document and the article exposed Hamas's methods of exerting psychological pressure from within and outside on the Israeli government and public by blaming Israel for the failure of the negotiations to release the hostages. This is while everyone knows – as repeatedly confirmed by American officials – that Hamas is the one preventing the execution of the deal."
It was further stated: "Since the beginning of the war until today, we have witnessed a flood of biased and criminal leaks from secret cabinet meetings, closed security discussions, classified discussions related to the release of hostages; the leak of the staged video against our soldiers in the Tihama field, and the leak of MK Gilad Kariv from the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee." It is very puzzling why, out of all these leaks, this particular document – whose content was known to everyone and helped the State of Israel – received such an aggressive and biased investigation.
