Serious revelations have been made by a former high-ranking advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who stated that after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, the first mission he received from a "panicked" prime minister was to find a way to avoid taking responsibility for an attack that was as humiliating for Netanyahu as it was catastrophic for the country. He also said that Netanyahu was personally involved in leaking classified information to foreign media in an attempt to deflect criticism over the failure to reach a ceasefire agreement.
Netanyahu was part of a plan to leak classified information
The allegations from Netanyahu's former spokesperson, Eli Feldstein, came during an extensive interview with Israel's Kan network. While there were many communication needs following the massive bloodshed that claimed the lives of 1,200 people and saw hundreds taken captive, Feldstein said that Netanyahu's primary priority was to evade blame. Describing Netanyahu as "panicked" during that period, Feldstein told Kan:
"He asked me, 'What are they saying in the media? Do they keep talking about responsibility?' He wanted me to think of something that could be said to undo the media storm surrounding the issue of whether the prime minister had assumed responsibility or not. The first and greatest mission I had after October 7 was to erase the concept of Netanyahu's responsibility from the public discourse." Feldstein, highlighting the intensity of this operation, said that Netanyahu's close associates advised him to ensure that the word "responsibility" did not appear in statements he was preparing. "They told me to take the word 'responsibility' out of the dictionary and to formulate something without the word 'responsibility', it won't pass," he said.
Uproar in Israel
Feldstein's narrative is expected to trigger a strong reaction in Israel, where Netanyahu has faced ongoing criticism for his refusal to accept responsibility for the massive security failure that occurred under his government—and is also accused of extending the war in Gaza to prevent a full post-war investigation, even if extending the war meant risking the lives of the captives. Responding to the broadcast, the Prime Minister's office rejected the accusations, describing them as "a series of false and recycled charges by a man with clear personal interests trying to shift responsibility away from himself." Feldstein is accused of leaking classified information to the media in order to protect Netanyahu from criticism at a time when ceasefire negotiations in Gaza had stalled.
Netanyahu's involvement in the document leak
In his interview with Kan, Feldstein stated that Netanyahu was fully involved in the plan: "For such a document to be publicized, the Prime Minister must be in the picture—from the beginning to the end. He was the one who ultimately hides behind the leak." He also said that Netanyahu is lying when he denies his involvement.
Feldstein accused of spreading false news
Feldstein, who had previously worked with Itamar Ben-Gvir—a member of Netanyahu's right-wing alliance and current Minister of National Security—was accused of spreading false narratives that Hamas planned to smuggle Israeli captives into Egypt, and that Hamas was prolonging negotiations as part of psychological warfare against the Israeli people. At least one of the newspapers that relied on Feldstein's leaks—London's Jewish Chronicle—retracted its report, with prominent columnists resigning due to the scandal. Feldstein is also accused of receiving money from Qatar as part of a foreign influence operation.
Netanyahu's involvement in disinformation
The leaked document was an internal Hamas communication intended to reveal that the group was not sincere in the effort to reach a ceasefire agreement. However, one of the recipients of the document, the German tabloid Bild, allegedly misrepresented the content of the document in favor of Netanyahu. In the second broadcast of the interview on Tuesday, Feldstein said that after the misleading Bild story, Netanyahu's advisor, Jonathan Urich, sent him a message saying: "The boss is excited."
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