Police question Netanyahu's spokesperson concerning classified document leak

Yonatan Urich, the spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was questioned under caution by the police concerning the leak of classified documents to the German newspaper Bild, Channel 13 News reported on Friday.

This is just one of a slew of probes launched into the Prime Minister’s Office in the last few weeks.

This case is part of an earlier investigation into Netanyahu’s Chief of Staff Tzachi Braverman regarding whether phone records were altered from the morning of October 7, 2023.

The police investigation into Urich began after police questioned Braverman for five and a half hours on Thursday, in which he told them that he had attempted to alter the time Netanyahu had received the first call about the Hamas attack, from 6:40 a.m. to the time the attack began at 6:29 a.m., according to Ynet.

Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs was also reportedly questioned by the police, with his testimony contributing to the decision to question Urich.

Braverman is accused of attempting to blackmail the military secretary to make the changes; however, the secretary refused to lead Braverman to change the times himself.

Office culture

Following this, he is accused of accessing personal information about the officer with the intention of using it to keep them from reporting the incident.

Fuchs is under investigation separately for making illegal threats against a Labor Ministry accountant to force him to approve financial transfers to families for daycare subsidies, including to haredi (ultra-Orthodox) families whose fathers had not reported for IDF service and were therefore illegible, according to a charge by the State Attorney’s Office.

Another serious investigation into the PM’s Office is that of Eli Feldstein, who is accused of leaking documents that harmed the chances of a hostage deal.

Feldstein is accused of selectively leaking documents from the office in order to shape public opinion against a hostage deal.

He was hired by the PMO soon after the start of the war but failed the vetting process of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and was therefore not officially employed at the office.

Despite the lack of employment status, he was still a strong presence at official events, having been photographed at numerous events attended by Netanyahu.

Eliav Breuer, Tovah Lazaroff, Shir Perets, and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.