Israeli police detained a senior aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on suspicion of obstructing an investigation, in a case local media said is tied to the leak of military information during the Gaza war.
Police did not name the official, but Israeli outlets reported it was Tzachi Braverman, Netanyahu’s chief of staff and Israel’s ambassador-designate to the United Kingdom. Officers searched his home, according to Israeli media, and the aide was “being questioned under caution,” police said.
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“This morning, a senior official in the prime minister’s office was detained for questioning … on suspicion of obstructing an investigation,” police said in a statement. “The suspect … is currently being questioned under caution.”
The obstruction probe follows a high-profile leak in September 2024 by communications strategist Mr Feldstein, who admitted to providing a classified Israel Defense Forces document to the German tabloid Bild. He was later arrested and indicted in connection with that disclosure.
According to Mr Feldstein, the leaked document was intended to demonstrate that Hamas was not interested in a cease-fire deal, reinforcing Netanyahu’s position that hostages seized during the Palestinian militants’ Oct. 7, 2023, assault could only be freed through military pressure rather than negotiations.
In an interview with Israel’s public broadcaster KAN, Mr Feldstein said Mr Braverman asked to meet him soon after the leak became public. During that meeting, he said, Mr Braverman informed him that the army had launched a probe and told him he could “shut down” the investigation. In the same interview, Mr Feldstein said Netanyahu was aware of the leak and supported using the document to bolster public backing for the war effort.
Israeli media reported that Mr Feldstein was expected to speak with police later in the day regarding Mr Braverman’s suspected involvement in the affair. Those reports also said Mr Braverman is not suspected of direct involvement in a separate investigation commonly referred to as “Qatargate.”
That probe centers on allegations that Mr Feldstein and other close associates of Netanyahu were recruited by Qatar to promote the Gulf monarchy’s image in Israel. Qatar, which hosts senior Hamas leaders, has served as a key mediator between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group throughout the war in Gaza. The investigation is ongoing, and Mr Feldstein, along with another Netanyahu aide, was taken into custody in late March.
The latest development immediately reverberated in Israel’s political arena, given Mr Braverman’s pending diplomatic posting. Opposition leader Yair Lapid called for his appointment as ambassador to the United Kingdom to be halted until the investigation runs its course.
“In light of the new developments in the Qatargate affair, the appointment of Tzachi Braverman as ambassador to Britain must be immediately suspended,” Mr Lapid wrote on X. “It is unacceptable that someone suspected of involvement in obstructing a serious security investigation should be the face of Israel in one of the most important countries in Europe.”
The police have not publicly linked Monday’s detention to a specific leak case, and the prime minister’s office was not immediately quoted in local reports. But the overlapping inquiries — a wartime leak that Mr Feldstein says senior officials knew about and a separate foreign-influence probe that has already led to arrests — underscore the scrutiny enveloping Netanyahu’s inner circle as the conflict drags on and diplomatic stakes rise.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
