Evidence deemed 'weak' against Feldstein on national security charge, judge rules
At the beginning of September, Feldstein attempted to leak the document’s contents to Israeli media in order to counter mass protests following the execution of hostages in Gaza.
There is a lack of direct evidence that Eli Feldstein intended to harm national security, Judge Alaa Masarwa said on Tuesday, saying there is a weakness in the evidence on this charge in the PMO leak scandal.
Feldstein, an aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was charged with the disclosure of a classified piece of information, disclosure of a classified piece of information with the intent to harm national security, possession of a classified piece of information, and obstruction of justice.
On Tuesday, Feldstein confirmed his testimony, claiming that he had discussed intent of the document with the Prime MInister, days ahead of the leak.
He, and the military officer involved in the leak, were released to house arrest on Tuesday.The judge also came to the conclusion Tuesday that there is sufficient evidence at this stage regarding the offenses of disclosure of a classified piece of information and of spreading it in the media.The judge also said that Feldstein and the IDF NCO also implicated in the case have “claims worthy of being examined in the main case.”
Selective enforcement
In this regard, the judge said he would give some weight to the argument that there was selective enforcement in the choice to charge Feldstein, but not Jonatan Urich, an adviser to Netanyahu, who was questioned over the leak.
“The evidence in the case indicates the presence of numerous signs and warning signals that arose during the relevant period, which support the awareness of both respondents regarding the illegal actions they carried out, particularly their conduct after the publication in the German newspaper,” a summary of Tuesday’s ruling said.Feldstein’s father told Channel 13 that he was very happy to hear the judgment.
“After 12 years of serving in the army and giving himself for the sake of the country, it wasn’t easy for him as a young immigrant to join the army. Now that the judge has removed the clause about the concern of harming national security, I am happy, and it gives us a lot of strength,” he said.According to the indictment, which was filed on November 21, an IDF NCO, whose name has not been published, sent a picture of a top-secret document to Feldstein in April, believing it to be imperative for the prime minister to receive it directly.At the beginning of September, Feldstein attempted to leak the document’s contents to Israeli media to counter mass protests that broke out after six bodies of recently executed Israeli hostages were retrieved from Gaza.According to the indictment, after the IDF military censor explicitly prohibited its publication, Feldstein leaked it to a foreign media outlet. The document itself has not been published, but according to the September 6 report in the German Bild, it described Hamas’s negotiating strategy and mentioned the protests as something helping its cause.“This action was carried out with the knowledge of the defendant… and was intended to influence Israeli public discourse regarding the handling of the hostage situation,” the indictment read. The act “severely endangered state security,” it read. At Feldstein’s request, the NCO later provided Feldstein with a physical copy of the document, as did others.
Eliav Breuer contributed to this report.
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