Netanyahu leaks scandal: Feldstein transferred to suicide prevention cell
The Israeli Prison Service transferred Eli Feldstein, former aid and spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to a cell equipped to prevent inmates from committing suicide, on Monday.
Feldstein is the main suspect in the leak of secret security documents from Netanyahu’s office to foreign media, but opposition leaders are accusing Netanyahu personally.
The Prison Service said in a statement, “Prison Service officers found in the cell of a security detainee in one of the southern prisons things that required, based on the instructions of the prison director, his immediate transfer to a cell equipped to prevent suicide”.
While the Prison Service did not reveal the name of the detainee, the Israeli official Broadcasting Authority said it was Feldstein, while Channel 12 reported that a rope was found hanging in his cell.
According to the Israeli media, the Public Prosecution intends to submit an indictment against Feldstein by next Thursday.
On Sunday evening, the Broadcasting Authority said that initial investigations showed that Feldstein acted illegally after six Israeli prisoners were killed in the Gaza Strip last August.
It noted that their deaths sparked a wave of protests against Netanyahu’s government, so Feldstein sought to change the public discourse by accusing then-Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was later assassinated by Israel, of thwarting the potential deal and holding him responsible for the prisoners’ deaths.
Hamas then announced that the six prisoners were killed by Israeli army fire, and repeatedly accused Netanyahu of thwarting efforts to reach a prisoner exchange and ceasefire agreement.
At the meantime, Israel holds at least 9,500 Palestinians in its prisons, and estimates that there are 101 Israeli prisoners in Gaza, while Hamas announced the deaths of dozens of them in random Israeli raids.
