A Gaza hostages campaign group called for an investigation on Monday into the alleged leak of confidential documents by a former aide to Israel’s prime minister, which could have compromised efforts to secure their release.
On Sunday, a court announced that Eliezer Feldstein, a former aide to Benjamin Netanyahu, had been detained along with three others for allegedly leaking documents to foreign media. The case has raised questions from opposition figures about whether Netanyahu was involved in the leak — an accusation denied by his office.
“The (hostage) families demand an investigation against all those suspected of sabotage and undermining state security,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum stated.
“Such actions, especially during wartime, endanger the hostages, jeopardise their chances of return and abandon them to the risk of being killed by Hamas terrorists,” the forum added.
The group represents most of the families of the 97 hostages still held in Gaza after their capture in the unprecedented October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel that ignited the war. The Israeli military has reported that 34 of these hostages are dead.
“The suspicions suggest that individuals associated with the prime minister acted to carry out one of the greatest frauds in the country’s history,” the forum stated.
“This is a moral low point like no other. It is a severe blow to the remaining trust between the government and its citizens.”
Netanyahu has faced criticism from opponents who accuse him of delaying truce negotiations and prolonging the conflict to appease his far-right coalition partners.
The breach is under investigation by Israel’s domestic security agency, Shin Bet, and the army. The probe began in September after two foreign newspapers — the British weekly The Jewish Chronicle and Germany’s Bild tabloid — published articles based on classified military documents.
One article alleged the existence of a document revealing that then-Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, later killed by Israel, and the hostages in Gaza were to be smuggled into Egypt through the Philadelphi corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border.
Another report cited what was claimed to be an internal Hamas leadership memo on Sinwar’s strategy to obstruct negotiations for the hostages’ release.
The Israeli court emphasised that the disclosure of the documents posed “severe harm to state security.”
“As a result, the ability of security bodies to achieve the objective of releasing the hostages, as part of the war goals, could have been compromised,” the court added.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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