Ex-Netanyahu Spokesman Claims Prime Minister Backed Classified Leak to Shape Hostage Talks Narrative
Eli Feldstein, who previously served as a spokesman to Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, is claiming that the prime minister was fully aware of, and actively supported, the leaking of a sensitive intelligence document in September 2024 as part of an effort to influence public sentiment surrounding hostage negotiations.
In remarks made during the second installment of a two-part interview with Israel’s public broadcaster Kan, Feldstein directly contradicts the prime minister’s denials. “He knew everything,” Feldstein says. “He is the one who was ultimately behind the leak to Bild.”
Feldstein goes further, asserting that Netanyahu’s statements denying knowledge of the affair are a “lie,” and insisting the leak was not a rogue action carried out without political backing.
According to Feldstein, he maintained continuous contact throughout the episode with Netanyahu aide Jonatan Urich, beginning when Feldstein first received the classified material from military intelligence reservist Ari Rosenfeld and continuing through the document’s eventual publication in the German newspaper Bild.
The document at the center of the controversy was described as an internal message from the Hamas terror group. Its release had been explicitly barred by Israel’s military censor due to fears that publication could expose and endanger an intelligence source operating inside Gaza.
Law enforcement authorities are now probing the affair. Feldstein, Urich, and Netanyahu confidant Yisrael (Srulik) Einhorn are all subjects of a criminal investigation tied to the leak. Netanyahu himself has not been named a suspect.
Describing Urich’s role, Feldstein said there was no gap between what he knew and what Urich knew. “Where [the document] came from, why it wasn’t put out in Israel, all of it,” Feldstein told Kan, stressing that nothing was hidden.
Challenging investigators to scrutinize his communications, Feldstein said, “Read all my texts [with Urich]. I don’t conceal anything,” adding that a review would show that “other than asking him if I can go pee, he knew everything. Everything. Everything, everything, including everything, including everything.”
Feldstein also maintains that by the night before the article appeared, Urich had already updated Netanyahu about the plan to leak the document. He points to text exchanges that he says reference the prime minister directly, including a message from Urich stating: “The boss is pleased.”
After the article was published, Feldstein says he participated in a conference call with Urich and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu to coordinate how they would publicly address the report. According to Feldstein, the discussion quickly shifted to clarifying — and containing — what Netanyahu was said to have known.
During that call, Feldstein claims, the group agreed to publicly maintain — despite knowing it to be untrue — that the prime minister had not been informed of the leak. At the same time, they decided to highlight claims that the military was withholding crucial information from Israel’s political leadership.
{Matzav.com}
