Over the past few weeks, three similar cases have been published gradually and partially, relating to the conduct of the Prime Minister’s Office in relation to military elements, classified information, and the media since the outbreak of the war. The cases are essentially similar and all point to improper behavior around Prime Minister Netanyahu – although the Prime Minister himself is not suspected of direct involvement in any of them. We are here to create order in the various affairs, among which it is easy to get confused:
The first case concerns the publication in the German ‘Bild’ newspaper about two months ago, in which there was content related to Sinwar’s instructions on the strategy in the face of the demonstrations in Israel to release the hostages. The IDF claims that this content was classified at a high level, and that the very publication puts at risk efforts to release hostages; an investigation has begun around the source of the leak, in which Eli Feldstein (an officer in Reserves and a PM media adviser for military affairs), as well as 3 officers from the IDF’s Information Security Department. It is suspected that the content was leaked by the officers to Feldstein illegally, and that Feldstein led to the publication of the information in the foreign media in a biased manner, which would benefit the Prime Minister’s political goals.
The second case concerns an attempt to change protocols and summaries of discussions and conversations that took place at the beginning of the war, by elements around the prime minister. The investigation into the affair began after the general, Avi Gil, then Prime Minister’s Military Secretary, approached the attorney general on the matter; the suspicion is that various elements are trying to change the protocols in order to present the prime minister and elements in his environment in a more positive light, whether in the view of the media or in the mirror of history.
The third affair concerns an attempt to pressure a senior IDF officer, through extortion and holding sensitive information about him. The affair was published after the officer complained about it to the Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, and today (Sunday) it was reported that the suspect in the extortion is Tzachi Braverman, the chief of staff of the Prime Minister. It is suspected that this was done in order to gain access to classified information to which the officer in question is being served.
The three cases indicate that there is a misconduct around classified information, which is essential to the security of the state, and raises suspicion of a lack of integrity for personal interests. Let us hope that the police will exhaust the depth of the investigation and draw direct conclusions about blame and punishment, while preventing future attempts at similar efforts; and we hope that the cases will not collapse the immediate vicinity of the prime minister, echoing the Nixon Watergate scandal, 50 years ago.
