A close advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and a sometimes spokesman for the Prime Minister’s office, was arrested last week, as part of an investigation by Israeli Police, the Shin Bet and the IDF into a suspected “breach of national security caused by the unlawful provision of classified information.” The matter involves the manipulation by Netanyahu’s office of material designed to kill the hostage negotiations.
While Netanyahu now disclaims that the arrested individual worked for him, it is widely known in Israel that the two worked together on a daily basis, with the “cover” that the advisor wasn’t paid by the office or the government. Netanyahu has aides who work in his inner circle but are not formally employed by his office. Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported yesterday that the individual worked next to Netanyahu’s chief of staff Tzachi Braverman.
In September, Germany’s Bild tabloid published a spring 2024 document from a computer of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, purporting to show that he was only interested in ceasefire negotiations so as to rehabilitate Hamas’ military capabilities, not to stop the suffering in Gaza. However, according to Israel’s Channel 12 news, first the claims about the leaked document by Bild, and also by British newspaper the Jewish Chronicle, closely mirrored Netanyahu’s talking points at the time. For example, Sinwar was going to smuggle himself and some Israeli hostages through the Philadelphi Corridor; so, of course, Netanyahu had to change the terms of the truce/hostage offer to take over the Corridor. Channel 12 reported that the individual arrested, along with three others, selectively leaked and twisted Hamas documents obtained by the IDF regarding the terror group’s strategy in the hostage talks. In particular, the IDF reported that a mid-level Hamas official had made recommendations to Sinwar, including the matter of leaving Gaza. Not only was that not Sinwar’s proposal, it is known that he didn’t accept the proposal. And the IDF had made clear in their original report that what was on the computer was not coming from Sinwar, yet it was leaked to the media to back Netanyahu’s public posturing.
