BibiLeaks: Everything You Need to Know About Netanyahu’s Latest Scandal

On Sunday, an Israeli court extended the detention of three suspects accused of leaking classified IDF intelligence sent to the Prime Minister’s Office to foreign media outlets. Court President Judge Menahem Mizrahi ruled that the leaking of documents could inflict serious harm on national security and endanger sensitive intelligence sources.

He also ruled that the leak could undermine efforts to secure the return of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. After the court narrowed the gag order imposed on the investigation on Sunday, Haaretz clarifies the questions raised by the investigation and the broader implications of the leaked information.

The main suspicions in the case revolve around three key individuals, with the primary focus on Eli Feldstein, a spokesperson in the Prime Minister’s Office, who illegally obtained classified intelligence from defense officials, the contents of which reached foreign media outlets in a way that served the interests of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s office.

It is suspected that the defense officials illegally extracted sensitive intelligence from the IDF, raising concerns of severe damage to Israeli national security and jeopardizing intelligence sources. In other words, the allegations are related to the unauthorized removal of sensitive intelligence from the defense establishment, as well as the distorting and leaking of the intelligence to the media.

In early September, the German tabloid Bild reported about a document attributed to Hamas, which was ostensibly obtained by the IDF in Gaza. According to Bild’s report, the document, which was written in Spring 2024, detailed Hamas’ strategy regarding the hostages, including increasing pressure on the hostages’ families, which would in turn increase the pressure throughout the Israeli public and ultimately result in extreme pressure on the Netanyahu government.

This was reportedly while Hamas itself was not seeking a swift end to the fighting. The article stated that the document was found on a computer allegedly belonging to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who approved its content. Netanyahu adopted the report and used it to suggest that demonstrators advocating for the release of the hostages were “falling into Hamas’ trap.”

Prior to the Bild report, Israel’s Channel 12 reported that the information was barred from publication in Israel by the state’s censorship office due to concerns about national security. Two days after Bild published the report, the IDF announced it had opened an investigation into the suspected leak of the document to foreign media. In the army’s statement, it noted that the leaked document was found by IDF soldiers in the Gaza Strip and was written as a recommendation by a mid-level Hamas commander.

That same week, Netanyahu commented on another foreign media report, this time by British outlet The Jewish Chronicle, which turned out to be a mendacious report. The Jewish Chronicle reported that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was planning to smuggle himself and Israeli hostages out of Gaza via the Philadelphi route. That evening, almost the entire Israeli media repeated the report, which ostensibly validated Netanyahu’s claims that there was concern that Hamas would try to smuggle hostages to Egypt, which was why Israel insisted on keeping military forces along the Philadelphi route.

Four suspects were initially arrested for their involvement in passing on the intelligence and leaking it to the media, but the court released one of them on Sunday. Two of the three suspects still in remand are defense and intelligence officials, and the third is Eli Feldstein, who served as a spokesperson in the Prime Minister’s Office. Feldstein began working at the PMO a few days after the outbreak of the war, but failed a Shin Bet background and security check. He therefore was not officially employed as a government employee, nor was he an external consultant. On Monday, the Israel’s Shin Bet security service arrested another suspect, a junior officer in the IDF.

According to Israel’s Defense Ministry, two weeks after the war’s start, Feldstein was drafted into reserve service to bolster Israel’s emergency Home Front Command, on request of PMO’s director, Yossi Shelley. However, three days later it became clear that he was not filling his role as part of the PMO’s government liaison division, and as a result was released. Subsequently, Feldstein took on the role of spokesperson in Netanyahu’s office, responsible for managing relations between journalists covering the war and the Prime Minister’s Office. At this stage, it is not clear if Feldstein was employed through the Likud Party, or if he Feldstein was employed directly by Netanyahu’s office.

Over the year, Feldstein was among Netanyahu’s close circle advisers, attending meetings with him, some of which were classified, and frequently accompanied the prime minister during the war, including on visits to defense facilities and sensitive discussions, contradicting claims by the Prime Minister’s Office that “he never attended defense discussions, was not exposed to or received classified intelligence, and never participated in secret visits.”

Feldstein was photographed alongside the prime minister in visits to military bases, including en route to situation assessment discussions with the IDF Chief of Staff and senior officers. He was also photographed at several cabinet meetings. Sources told Haaretz that Feldstein was also present at a visit to sensitive bases and defense meetings at the Prime Minister’s Office. A source told Haaretz that Netanyahu knew that Feldstein was working at the Prime Minister’s Office despite failing his security clearance.

The seriousness of the current affair is derived from the unauthorized use made of sensitive internal defense intelligence. This is contrary to other instances of leaks, which have mostly included intelligence covering other matters or protocols on confidential discussions on the Israeli side. This is accompanied by the assessment that the leaked information was manipulated, distorting some of the details in an attempt to influence public opinion in Israel.

The IDF’s Information Security Department began investigating the leak following the reports by Bild and The Jewish Chronicle. The leaked documents were classified, which were not brought to the attention of the relevant defense officials.

The arrested men are suspected of transferring the intelligence to Feldstein, who does not have the appropriate security clearance and who is suspected of sending the sensitive intelligence to foreign media in a way that is liable to hurt the hostage negotiations. The defense establishment also believes that raw intelligence was leaked from the IDF and that some of the details were manipulated in an attempt to influence the Israeli public.

The Shin Bet is responsible for security investigations arising from suspected damage to national security. It has broader investigative powers than those granted to the police, and it may prevent a suspect from meeting with a lawyer for ten days, without the need for court permission. Preventing a suspect from meeting a lawyer infringes on one’s right to legal counsel. Beginning Tuesday, the Shin Bet will request from the courts to extend the ten-day block on seeking legal counsel imposed on the suspect.

It can be assumed that, as the investigation progresses, investigators will try to figure out if someone gave an order to collect the classified documents and send them to foreign media. If suspicion arises that other officials at the Prime Minister’s Office were involved in transferring the intelligence, they may be summoned for questioning. Last week, Israeli news channel Kan 11 reported that Netanyahu’s chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman, and Netanyahu’s closest adviser, Jonatan Urich, arrived at a consultation meeting with lawyer Amit Hadad, who is also as Netnayhu’s attorney.

As for Netanyahu himself, at this stage, there is apparently no information linking him directly to the leak, and it is unclear whether he was aware of it. However, Netanyahu adopted the report that relied on the leaked information and used it to argue that the protesters advocating for the release of the hostages are “falling into Hamas’s trap.”