The secret documents leak scandal still ongoing in Israel: A senior official in Netanyahu’s office toppled

The repercussions of the scandals of the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are still ongoing, especially with regard to leaking secret documents to international media outlets.

Channel 12 News revealed that security forces interrogated Netanyahu’s spokesman Jonathan Urich in the documents case.

“Prime Minister Jonathan Orech’s spokesman has been questioned on suspicion of involvement in the secret documents affair,” Channel 12 said.

The secret documents, which were published in international media in July, are attributed to then-Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, and say that the movement isn’t interested in an agreement regarding Israeli prisoners in Gaza.

The police and the Shin Bet security service suspect that the documents were leaked in an attempt to influence Israeli public opinion to accept Netanyahu’s position that the failure to reach an agreement stems from Sinwar’s rejection of the agreement.

Five Israelis, including an employee in Netanyahu’s office and four Israeli soldiers, were arrested in connection with the case.

“The investigators arrived at Orich’s home in the morning, took his personal phone, and after realizing that he was supposed to participate in an important hearing, they asked him to come independently in the afternoon to testify,” the Israeli news website Ynet reported.

“The interrogation of Orich is complementary to the investigation, before indictments are filed in the case against Prime Minister’s Spokesman Eli Feldstein and against a reservist soldier serving in a secret unit in military intelligence,” Ynet added.

In turn, Israeli Channel 12 News said, “The case of the secret documents is approaching the indictment stage, and it’s expected to be presented in the coming days.”

“An indictment is expected to be filed against Eli Feldstein (Netanyahu’s employee) perhaps in the coming days,” Channel 12 added.

“The man suspected of involvement in the theft of secret documents from Prime Minister Eli Feldstein’s office will remain in custody until Sunday, despite the decision taken earlier, Friday to release him to house arrest,” the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation said.

“The decision to continue Feldstein’s detention was made due to an announcement by the police and the State Attorney’s Office, which announced that it would appeal the decision to the Supreme Court,” the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation added.

“The police informed the Central Court of their intention to submit the prosecutor’s statement early next week, which means that an indictment will be filed and they will seek to detain him until the end of the proceedings,” the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation continued.

On Thursday, the Israeli Magistrate’s Court decided to release him to house arrest, despite the police’s request to extend his detention.

However, with the Public Prosecution Office announcing its intention to appeal to the Supreme Court against his conditional release, he couldn’t be released.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement this week attacking the Shin Bet’s handling of the case.

“It’s very painful for us that the lives of young people are being destroyed by empty allegations in order to harm the right-wing government,” he said.

“In a democratic country, people aren’t detained for leaks for 20 days in the basement, while they are prevented from seeing a lawyer for several days, just to extract false statements against the prime minister,” he added.

Orech is the second official in Netanyahu’s office to be investigated in the past two days.

Prime Minister’s Office Chief Tzachi Braverman was investigated on suspicion of attempting to alter a protocol of a call between Netanyahu and his military adviser Avi Gil on the morning of October 7, 2023.

That morning, Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on the Gaza Strip envelope, killing and wounding hundreds of Israelis.

Netanyahu continues to deny receiving any prior security or intelligence warnings about the possibility of such an attack, and therefore bears no responsibility.

Braverman was questioned for five hours on suspicion of trying to change the time of the conversation between Netanyahu and his military secretary from 6:40 am to 6:29 am on October 7.

But Israel’s Channel 12 News said, “It’s believed that the case against Tzachi Braverman in this case will be closed”.