Legal Advisor Decides to Charge Netanyahu's Advisor Over Leak of Extremely Secret Military Information

SadaNews - The Israeli government's legal advisor, Gali Baharav Miara, has decided to charge the media advisor to the Prime Minister, Yonatan Orech, regarding the leakage of highly classified information from the Israeli military, pending a hearing session that will be held with him.

This was announced by Baharav Miara in a statement on Sunday evening, in which she noted that "the office of the legal advisor informed, today (Sunday), the close advisor to the Prime Minister, Yonatan Orech, that the legal advisor and the attorney general are considering prosecuting him criminally, pending a hearing, in the 'Bild' case, on security-related charges, concerning the intentional disclosure of classified information detrimental to state security, possession of classified information, and destruction of evidence".

According to the statement, "it is alleged that Orech collaborated with (the spokesperson for the Prime Minister), Eli Feldstein, to leak classified information from the Israeli military systems".

The legal advisor added that "these are highly classified pieces of information obtained through secret intelligence means; revealing them by Orech could endanger state security and human lives".

She mentioned that "the publication of classified information by Orech and Feldstein aimed, among other things, to influence public perception of the Prime Minister (guiding Israeli public opinion in favor of Netanyahu and his positions) and to stir controversy, coinciding with the deaths of the six detainees in August 2024".

In January, it became evident from the protocol of the Israeli Supreme Court session, which examined the case of leaking confidential documents from the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that lawyer Oded Sabari, the spokesperson's agent and the central defendant in the case, Eliezer Feldstein, stated that Netanyahu was involved in leaking the confidential document that was stolen from the military intelligence division to the German newspaper "Bild".

The leaking of the document to "Bild" occurred after censorship rejected its publication in Israeli Channel 12, and the objective of the leak was to influence public opinion in Israel, suggesting that Hamas is the one rejecting an agreement for prisoner exchanges. However, the document also reveals a highly secret method for gathering intelligence information, which the public prosecution describes as compromising state security.

Earlier, the newspaper "Haaretz" reported that Orech had worked on "a campaign to improve Qatar's image ahead of the 2022 World Cup, through a private marketing company," a claim Orech later denied.

The investigations with Orech and Feldstein included a review of the procedures for "protecting classified information" within the Prime Minister's office and other ministries, amid suspicions of "leaks of sensitive information to foreign media".

The Shin Bet had previously informed members of the Knesset about commencing an examination of the relations of "entities within the Prime Minister's office" with Qatar, following media reports discussing the existence of "mutual interests" between "some advisors in the Prime Minister's office and figures linked to Qatar".

A Qatari official commented on the issue in a previous interview with the "Washington Post," confirming it to be a "systematic smear campaign" targeting Doha.

The official stated that this campaign is "driven by parties seeking to prolong the conflict and prevent an agreement for the release of prisoners," stressing that Qatar will continue mediation efforts in cooperation with the United States and regional partners, adding that his country "will not allow parties seeking to sabotage the negotiations to disrupt its role in mediating," referring to attempts for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.