An aide to Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces indictment on security charges
pending a hearing, Israel’s attorney general said on Sunday, for
allegedly leaking top secret military information during
Israel’s war in Gaza.
Netanyahu’s close adviser, Jonatan Urich, has denied any
wrongdoing in the case which legal authorities began
investigating in late 2024. The prime minister has described
probes against Urich and other aides as a witch-hunt.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said in a statement that
Urich and another aide had extracted secret information from the
Israeli military and leaked it to German newspaper Bild.
Their intent, she said, was to shape public opinion of Netanyahu
and influence the discourse about the slaying of six Israeli
hostages by their Palestinian captors in Gaza in late August
2024.
The hostages’ deaths had sparked mass protests in Israel and
outraged hostage families, who accused Netanyahu of torpedoing
ceasefire talks that had faltered in the preceding weeks for
political reasons.
Netanyahu vehemently denies this. He has repeatedly said
that Hamas was to blame for the talks collapsing, while the
militant group has said it was Israel’s fault no deal had been
reached.
Four of the six slain hostages had been on the list of more than
30 captives that Hamas was set to free were a ceasefire to be
reached, according to a defence official at the time.
The Bild article in question was published days after the
hostages were found executed in a Hamas tunnel in southern
Gaza.
It outlined Hamas’ negotiation strategy in the indirect
ceasefire talks and largely corresponded with Netanyahu’s
allegations against the militant group over the deadlock.
Bild said after the investigation was announced that it does
not comment on its sources and that its article relied on
authentic documents.
A two-month ceasefire was reached in January this year and
included the release of 38 hostages before Israel resumed
attacks in Gaza. The sides are presently engaged in indirect<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An aide to Israeli PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahu faces indictment on security chargespending a hearing, Israel’s attorney general said on Sunday, forallegedly leaking top secret military information duringIsrael’s war in Gaza.Netanyahu’s close adviser, Jonatan Urich, has denied anywrongdoing in the case which legal authorities beganinvestigating in late 2024. The prime minister has describedprobes against Urich and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n