The State Attorney’s Office will appeal a court decision on Tuesday to release to house arrest the two defendants suspected of stealing and leaking top secret documents to foreign media, a court spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday.
The two defendants are Eli Feldstein, who worked in a media team in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office and was closely associated with the prime minister’s inner circle, and a reserve IDF NCO whose identity has not been approved for publication. They will remain in custody at least until the state attorney’s appeal, which is due by Thursday.
According to the indictment filed against them, the NCO provided Feldstein with a top-secret document in April related to Hamas’ strategy in ongoing hostage negotiations, believing that it was imperative that the information reach the prime minister. Feldstein then held the document until September. Then, facing public outcry over the execution of six hostages, Feldstein attempted to leak the document to Hebrew media outlets, in an attempt to deflect criticism away from Netanyahu.
IDF censorship blocked the document’s publication, claiming that it revealed information that could harm Israeli security and endanger lives. Feldstein, regardless, then leaked the document to the German newspaper tabloid Bild, which subsequently published it.
Feldstein and the NCO have been detained since late October. In the decision to release them to house arrest, Tel Aviv Regional Court judge Ala’a Masarwa wrote that the danger in their release had to do with their connection to the prime minister’s office and that this could be prevented within the framework of house arrest.
According to the decision, the two will not be allowed access to the internet. Masarwa also mentioned the fact that both defendants participated in the investigation and expressed regret as a factor in ordering their release to house arrest.
'Weakness of evidence'
Feldstein was charged with the disclosure of a classified piece of information, possession of a classified piece of information, obstruction of justice, and disclosure of a classified piece of information with the intent to harm national security,
Regarding the last charge, which is the most serious, Masarwa wrote that there was a “weakness of evidence” proving intent to harm national security. The prosecution has argued that the fact that Feldstein was aware of the “near certain” harm to national security was equivalent to him “intending” to cause this harm.