Israel indicts Netanyahu's adviser over leaking secret information to German daily: Report

Israel’s attorney general filed an indictment Thursday against a senior adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on charges, including leaking classified information with the intent to harm state security, prompting strong backlash from government ministers.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and State Attorney Amit Aisman filed the indictment against Yonatan Urich, who is accused of transferring classified intelligence information to the German newspaper Bild after Israel’s military censor barred its publication.

Haaretz described the charges as a “serious espionage offense” carrying a potential maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The German newspaper published the document in Sept. 2024, claiming it was a secret Hamas document, though it was later found to be false.

Haaretz said the document had been presented in a misleading way to suggest that Hamas was unwilling to reach an agreement to end the Gaza war and secure the release of Israeli hostages, in what it described as an attempt to deflect criticism directed at Netanyahu over failed ceasefire negotiations.

The report added that Urich is accused of working with former Netanyahu spokesperson Eli Feldstein to extract classified information from Israeli military databases.

Baharav-Miara said in July that the leaked material was “classified at the highest level of secrecy” and had been obtained through sensitive intelligence, warning that the actions endangered “state security and human life.”

She added that the purpose behind extracting and leaking the classified information was, among other things, to influence public opinion in favor of Netanyahu and shape discourse surrounding the killing of six Israeli hostages in August 2024.

Indictments were previously filed in Nov. 2024 against Feldstein and Israeli reserve soldier Ari Rosenfeld, who is accused of passing the classified material to Feldstein.

According to Haaretz, Feldstein said during questioning that he leaked the information to foreign media to influence Israeli public opinion against protests demanding a hostage-release deal, claiming such protests harmed negotiations and strengthened Hamas.

Israeli ministers swiftly defended Urich and attacked Baharav-Miara following the indictment.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin claimed in a statement that “selective enforcement of the law is a crime.”

Transportation Minister Miri Regev described the accusations against Urich as “baseless” and accused authorities of targeting Netanyahu and his associates.

Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana accused Baharav-Miara of using the judicial system “as a weapon against one side of the political map.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also dismissed the allegations, saying he did not “believe a single word” said by the attorney general.

*Writing by Rania Abushamala in Istanbul.