{"id":122467,"date":"2024-11-05T21:19:28","date_gmt":"2024-11-05T14:19:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=122467"},"modified":"2024-11-05T21:19:28","modified_gmt":"2024-11-05T14:19:28","slug":"why-have-five-been-arrested-over-leaked-hamas-documents-in-israel-israel-palestine-conflict-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=122467","title":{"rendered":"Why have five been arrested over leaked Hamas documents in Israel? | Israel-Palestine conflict News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>A fresh political storm has engulfed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the arrest of a number of people in connection with an alleged leak of classified documents from his office.<\/p>\n<p>The documents in question are alleged to be Hamas military strategy documents, found by Israeli military intelligence in Gaza and subsequently manipulated by suspects within, or close to, the prime minister\u2019s office and defence establishment. The documents are then said to have been leaked to the German newspaper, Bild, and the UK\u2019s Jewish Chronicle, just as a potential ceasefire deal for Gaza, which ultimately failed, was being hammered out in September this year.<\/p>\n<p>It is unclear how changes to these documents might have been made, however they are believed to have made it appear that Hamas intended to smuggle the Israeli captives held in Gaza to Egypt and then to either Iran or Yemen.<\/p>\n<p>Among the five arrested on suspicion of leaking and manipulating the intelligence is the prime minister\u2019s spokesperson, Eli Feldstein.<\/p>\n<p>Announcing the arrests on Friday, an Israeli court in Rishon LeTsiyon said a joint investigation by the army, police and Israel\u2019s internal security services, the Shin Bet, had led them to suspect a \u201cbreach of national security caused by the unlawful provision of classified information\u201d, which had also \u201charmed the achievement of Israel\u2019s war aims\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The leak, judge Menachem Mizrahi said \u2013 lifting parts of the previous gag order that had limited reporting \u2013 posed a risk to \u201csensitive information and intelligence sources\u201d, and harmed efforts to achieve \u201cthe goals of the war in the Gaza Strip\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing by members of his office and, according to a statement issued on Saturday, claims he was only made aware of the leaked document via the media.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"how-big-a-deal-is-this\">How big a deal is this?<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cThis is big,\u201d Mitchell Barak, an Israeli pollster and former political aide to several senior Israeli political figures, including Netanyahu, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is potentially worse than Watergate, which is ironically the hotel Netanyahu stayed in on his last visit to Washington,\u201d he added, referencing the residence that gave its name to the scandal of the early 1970s which brought down US President Richard Nixon.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t know where this will end up. We don\u2019t know how (Eli Feldstein) got so close to the centre of power having failed the appropriate security clearances.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Barak continued: \u201cHowever, we do know that this whole affair has endangered our soldiers, the hostages (in Gaza) and whatever intelligence sources our military has there and that\u2019s a big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-is-the-motive-behind-this-leak\">What is the motive behind this leak?<\/h2>\n<p>Many observers, including Netanyahu\u2019s critics within Israel, have accused the prime minister of deliberately prolonging the war for his ends.<\/p>\n<p>In September, echoing the sentiment of fellow opposition leader Benny Gantz expressed a month earlier, Yair Lapid termed the carnage in Gaza a \u201cforever war\u201d, destined to continue for as long as Netanyahu and his government remained in power.<\/p>\n<p>The families of the captives trapped in Gaza have routinely accused the prime minister of dragging out the war, blasting an air raid siren outside his house last month and announcing a series of rallies to be staged this Saturday calling for a final ceasefire deal that will see family members returned home.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3299172\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3299172\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-3299172\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AP24307693430426-1730802989.jpg?w=770&amp;resize=770%2C513\" alt=\"Israel protest\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3299172\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">People protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s government and call for the release of captives held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Saturday, November 2, 2024 [Francisco Seco\/AP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Even the leader of Israel\u2019s staunchest ally, US President Joe Biden, voiced his frustration over Netanyahu\u2019s avoidance of ceasefire terms, telling Time magazine in June that there was \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2024\/6\/4\/biden-suggests-netanyahu-prolonging-israels-gaza-war-for-political-gains\">every reason\u201d to suppose Netanyahu was dragging<\/a> the war out for his political ends.<\/p>\n<p>Netanyahu has been charged with fraud and breach of trust in two cases, and bribery, fraud and breach of trust in a third. Lawyers representing the prime minister have repeatedly appealed for court hearings to be delayed out of consideration for Netanyahu\u2019s role as a wartime leader.<\/p>\n<p>However, to remain a wartime leader, Netanyahu must also retain the backing of his coalition cabinet, where hardliners such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich will be satisfied with nothing less than absolute victory in Gaza \u2013 meaning they would not agree to a ceasefire \u2013 and potentially the expulsion of its population.<\/p>\n<p>Following a series of provocative statements on Gaza, the UK is said to be considering imposing sanctions upon Smotrich <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2024\/10\/16\/uk-considering-sanctions-on-israeli-ministers-smotrich-and-ben-gvir\">after he suggested starving the population of Gaza<\/a> may be justified, while Ben-Gvir, also under consideration for sanctions for terming violent West Bank settlers \u201cheroes\u201d, has also spoken of resettling Gaza, following the population\u2019s \u201cvoluntary migration\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>In October, after the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, whose support Netanyahu needs to maintain his fractious coalition cabinet, called for an increase in military pressure on the enclave, where Israel has already killed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2024\/11\/3\/over-50-children-killed-in-israeli-strikes-in-gazas-jabalia-in-2-days-un\">more than 43,000 people.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow the IDF (Israeli army) must make sure that there is no resident of Gaza who does not know that Sinwar is dead. It must increase intense military pressure in the Strip, and at the same time offer safe passage and financial reward to those who return our hostages to and agree to lay down their arms and leave the Strip,\u201d Smotrich posted on X, according to a report in The Times of Israel.<\/p>\n<p>Ben-Gvir was equally forthright, calling for Israel to \u201ccontinue with all our strength until absolute victory\u201d.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3299262\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3299262\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-3299262\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AP24229490181903-1730804958.jpg?w=770&amp;resize=770%2C513\" alt=\"Gaza\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3299262\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Palestinian children wait to evacuate a school that had been their shelter, in eastern Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip, on Friday, August 16, 2024, after the Israeli military dropped leaflets asking civilians to leave the area and northern Khan Younis [Abdel Kareem Hana\/AP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"was-a-gaza-ceasefire-deal-close-in-september\">Was a Gaza ceasefire deal close in September?<\/h2>\n<p>Observers believed that it was.<\/p>\n<p>Early in September, Hamas confirmed they were ready to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2024\/6\/3\/biden-sees-hamas-as-only-obstacle-to-gaza-deal-white-house-says\">commit to US proposals<\/a> in June for a halt in the fighting without \u201cnew conditions\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The US proposal, which laid out a three-phase winding down of the war, leading to a permanent ceasefire and exchange of captives, had already been rejected out of hand by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2024\/6\/4\/is-israel-going-to-back-the-biden-announced-gaza-peace-plan\">Smotrich and Ben-Gvir just days after it had been issued<\/a>. Both ministers threatened to walk away from the cabinet and bring down the government if the Biden deal was accepted.<\/p>\n<p>In late August, Netanyahu, supported by much of his cabinet, introduced retaining control of the Philadelphi Corridor (the strip of land between Gaza and Egypt, not mentioned in the US proposal) as an essential precondition of any peace deal.<\/p>\n<p>Justifying this condition, Netanyahu told two news conferences on September 4 in Hebrew and English that Hamas could \u201ceasily smuggle hostages out \u2026 to the Sinai desert\u201d and, from there, to \u201cIran or \u2026 Yemen\u201d. After that, he added, \u201cthey\u2019re gone forever.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The following day, the UK\u2019s oldest Jewish newspaper, The Jewish Chronicle, ran an \u201cexclusive\u201d story which, according to analysts who spoke to media outlet +972, appeared to be based entirely on the manipulated documents. These appeared to confirm the supposed Hamas plans to smuggle both the captives and much of its leadership out of Gaza in exactly the way suggested by the Israeli prime minister a day earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Hamas\u2019s plan, The Jewish Chronicle reported in an article which has since been removed from its website, \u201cwas reportedly revealed during the interrogation of a captured senior Hamas official, as well as by information obtained from documents seized on Thursday, August 29, the day <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2024\/9\/1\/israel-recovers-bodies-of-six-captives-held-in-gaza\">six bodies of the murdered hostages were retrieved<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-does-this-mean-for-gaza\">What does this mean for Gaza?<\/h2>\n<p>By September 11, around the date a ceasefire might have been possible, Israel had killed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/liveblog\/2024\/9\/10\/israels-war-on-gaza-live-israel-held-polio-vaccinators-at-gun-point-un\">41,020 people in its war on Gaza<\/a>. That now <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2024\/11\/3\/over-50-children-killed-in-israeli-strikes-in-gazas-jabalia-in-2-days-un\">stands at 43,341<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2024\/10\/27\/palestinians-starving-to-death-in-northern-gaza-due-to-israels-siege\">Conditions in northern Gaza<\/a>, currently under an Israeli siege that started roughly one month after the altered\u00a0documents were published in the European papers in September, have become so severe that UN chiefs termed them \u201capocalyptic\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople have died as a consequence of this,\u201d Mairav Zonszein, senior Israel analyst with the NGO, the International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera. \u201cIn addition to the thousands of Palestinians who have been killed are the soldiers and the hostages who have died as a result of the failure to reach a ceasefire agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Representatives of the families of the remaining Gaza captives told reporters that the news of the altered\u00a0Hamas documents represented \u201ca moral low that has no depth. This is a fatal injury to the remnants of trust between the government and its citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"will-this-scandal-affect-netanyahu-in-any-way\">Will this scandal affect Netanyahu in any way?<\/h2>\n<p>Probably not.<\/p>\n<p>Before the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2023\/12\/4\/netanyahu-corruption-trial-to-resume\">current court case<\/a> there have been accusations of corruption and illegal behaviour involving <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2023\/7\/24\/are-netanyahus-legal-troubles-behind-push-for-judicial-change\">the prime minister and his family<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In 2017, his personal lawyer and cousin, David Shimron, was accused of trying to bribe German officials into parting with submarines and other naval craft.<\/p>\n<p>In 2018, his wife, Sara, was convicted of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2019\/6\/16\/netanyahus-wife-admits-criminal-wrongdoing-in-catering-case\">misusing public funds<\/a>, while his son, Yair Netanyahu has been on the losing end of several defamation and libel lawsuits. These have ranged from his untrue accusations in 2000 that a woman, Dana Cassidy, was having an affair with his father\u2019s chief political rival Benny Gantz, to being found to have libelled MK Stav Shaffir in 2022 in a series of social media posts after she had criticised his father for apparently breaking the country\u2019s COVID quarantine laws.<\/p>\n<p>Despite this, Netanyahu is Israel\u2019s longest-serving prime minister, by some margin.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, while this current crisis may appear hugely damaging, there is so far no evidence of a direct link tying Netanyahu to the manipulated documents.<\/p>\n<p>However, \u201cthe issue of the hostages is incredibly sensitive for people,\u201d former Israeli ambassador and Netanyahu critic, Alon Pinkas, told Al Jazeera. \u201cIf actual proof emerges that he lied and deceived at the hostages\u2019 expense, it\u2019s going to be bad for him,\u201d he said, before cautioning that both Israel and Netanyahu had been here before.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s got this office of subpar sycophants that will probably take the fall for him,\u201d he said of those, such as Eli Feldstein, who have already been arrested, \u201cand an opposition that, like penguins in the zoo, come out every now and then, as they did over the weekend\u201d \u2013 when opposition leaders Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/liveblog_entry\/lapid-netanyahu-either-incompetent-or-complicit-in-leak-he-should-not-be-pm\/\">held a joint news conference<\/a> \u2013 \u201csneeze, then return to their cave\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/features\/2024\/11\/5\/why-have-five-been-arrested-over-leaked-hamas-documents-in-israel\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A fresh political storm has engulfed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the arrest of a number of people in connection with an alleged leak of classified documents from his &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=122467\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=122467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122467\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=122467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=122467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=122467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}