Leaked documents case | PM's office spokesman charged with harming state security

The prosecution submitted a severe indictment on Thursday against Prime Minister's Office Spokesman Eli Feldstein and A., an IDF reserve NCO, for the alleged leak of classified documents.

Feldstein is being charged with sharing secret information to harm state security, which could carry a life sentence. The NCO is accused of sharing secret information, obstruction of justice, and theft.

The indictment states that "publishing the secret information in the media, as well as echoing the publication for days and weeks afterward, caused severe harm to state security and could have caused the IDF's intelligence gathering capabilities to diminish during the time of war, and even put human lives at risk. In addition, the release of classified information, including secret information from the IDF, could cause harm to state security and foreign relations when the content of the information reaches civilians or is published publicly."

Hundreds demonstrated outside the court calling for the suspects' release.

The investigation into the case found that in April, a Hamas document was transferred from the intelligence officer to Feldstein. In September, Feldstein asked Israeli journalists to publish the contents of the documents to influence public opinion on the hostage negotiations.

Sources claim that the document proved that Hamas is responsible for stalling the hostage negotiations and that it was kept from the prime minister.

After the Military Censor prohibited the journalists from publishing the document, Feldstein contacted the foreign press and updated the Israeli writers that the article would be published overseas and asked them to cover the report.

After the article was published, questions arose in Israel regarding the document's authenticity. To prove that the document was authentic, Feldstein again reached out to the officer and asked for the original document.

The officer met with the spokesman and handed him a hard copy of the document, as well as two additional documents that were classified as "top secret."