Netanyahu Aide Indicted for Leaking Classified Intel to German Press

by | Jun 11, 2026 | News

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Israeli prosecutors indicted Jonatan Urich, a senior media adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on charges of transmitting classified information with intent to harm state security.

The charges stem from the September 2024 leak of a classified IDF military intelligence document to Germany’s Bild newspaper. The document, an internal Hamas memo suggesting the terror group was uninterested in a hostage deal, was allegedly leaked to circumvent Israel’s military censor and bolster Netanyahu’s claim that Hamas, not his government, was blocking a deal, amid intense domestic fury following the murder of six hostages by Hamas. Prosecutors noted the memo was nine months old at the time and that Bild reportedly distorted its contents to favor the Netanyahu government.

Urich is alleged to have coordinated with Netanyahu’s former military affairs spokesman Eli Feldstein, who obtained the document from an IDF intelligence officer. Urich is also charged with destroying evidence by switching phones the day after two co-conspirators were arrested. Urich, Feldstein, and Likud adviser Yisrael Einhorn face separate allegations in the “Qatargate” affair, accused of accepting payment to run a pro-Qatar public relations campaign following the October 7 attacks.

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