The Feldstein affair: A security situation gone way too far 

Veteran Ha'aretz and Channel 12 journalist Chaim Levinson spoke out about the scandal engulfing Prime Minister's spokesperson Eli Feldstein. His words cut through the hysteria that has dominated Israeli media in recent days.

In a scathing critique that has rattled Israel's security establishment, Levinson painted a picture of institutional overreach bordering on paranoia. "The secretive system that sees itself as the sole guardian of state security," he says with barely concealed disdain, "is losing its mind over what amounts to a disciplinary issue."

What particularly irked Levinson is the justice system's submissive response. Instead of providing oversight, courts have seemingly bowed to security agencies' demands without question. The result, in his view, is a dangerous precedent of unchecked power.

Drawing from his decades of experience covering sensitive security matters, Levinson offered this sobering perspective: "This isn't an Iranian spy passing nuclear secrets. We're talking about poor judgment, not national collapse."

Perhaps most troubling to Levinson is the use of extreme measures typically reserved for terror suspects. The decision to restrict meetings - a tool designed for hardened enemies of the state - strikes him as particularly absurd in this context. "Feldstein isn't some trained terrorist preparing for intensive interrogation," he noted.

While acknowledging that he possesses classified information about why this particular leak triggered such an intense response, Levinson is unswayed in his assessment of the overreaction. His plea for sanity in what he sees as an increasingly hysterical atmosphere resonates with a simple truth: sometimes a mistake is just a mistake, not a threat to national security.

"It's time to return to reality," Levinson concludes. "The system needs to accept criticism and step back from this brink of paranoia."