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Gideon Markowicz/TPS-IL on 16 January, 2023
Former Israeli Chief of Staff Summoned in Probe Over Leaked Document Scandal
Jerusalem, 14 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) -- Former Israeli military chief Herzi Halevi has been summoned to testify in an expanding investigation into suspected obstruction of a probe into the leak of a classified document to the German tabloid Bild. The inquiry centers on whether aides to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to derail the investigation into the leak, which came amid intense public scrutiny following the execution of six Israeli hostages by Hamas in August 2024.
Halevi, who served as Israel’s chief of staff until last year, ordered the Israel Defense Forces’ Military Police Criminal Investigation Division to examine the leak and involved the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) in the inquiry. Police say Halevi’s testimony is expected to clarify how the investigation was initiated and managed.
Halevi stepped down as Chief of Staff in March 2025 as the army’s investigations into the failures of the October 7 attack neared completion.
Central to the probe is Netanyahu’s chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman, who is suspected of attempting to obstruct the investigation. Authorities allege that Braverman met with Netanyahu’s former spokesman, Eli Feldstein, in a late-night encounter at an underground parking lot of the IDF’s Tel Aviv headquarters. During that meeting, Feldstein claims Braverman presented him with a list of names connected to the inquiry and told him he could “switch off the investigation.”
In a television interview aired on the Kan 11 public broadcaster last month, Feldstein placed the prime minister himself at the center of the controversy, stating that Braverman was aware of a covert investigation months before it became public and had offered assurances that it could be quashed. Feldstein, who is a key figure in the so-called Bild affair, said the leak was intended to “serve the boss” by influencing public perception of Israeli hostage negotiations with Hamas.
The investigation is linked to a 2024 leak in which a classified Israeli military document detailing Hamas’s position on hostage negotiations was published abroad. The leak bolstered Netanyahu’s position that military pressure, rather than diplomatic negotiations, would secure the release of hostages held in Gaza. Critics argue the document represented an effort by Netanyahu’s office to shift blame onto Hamas for the failure of the talks.
The case has drawn in other senior aides. Omar Mansour, Netanyahu’s deputy spokesman, was questioned under caution and removed from the Prime Minister’s Office for 15 days. During the court hearing at Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court, Judge Menachem Mizrahi questioned why Mansour — who, according to Feldstein, only held phones during the parking lot meeting — was being treated as a suspect. “Assuming everything Feldstein claims is true, what is the suspicion against Mansour? How would he know what was happening? Mansour is the glove compartment,” Mizrahi said.
A police representative countered that there was a “concrete suspicion” that Mansour deliberately turned a blind eye.
The court also addressed appeals filed by Braverman and Mansour against restrictions barring them from the Prime Minister’s Office while the investigation continues. Police noted that Feldstein was questioned under caution on Sunday regarding the alleged obstruction, and Judge Mizrahi pressed investigators on why Braverman had been detained before Feldstein was formally questioned. “You moved to raid based on a television version,” Mizrahi said, ordering that the raw footage of Feldstein’s interview be handed over to the authorities.
Police describe the new obstruction case as “at a preliminary stage,” but maintain it justifies restrictions on high-level contacts between Netanyahu’s staff and other individuals tied to the leak. Authorities also highlighted that multiple senior figures in the Prime Minister’s Office are now under scrutiny, including Yonatan Urich, who was previously named in the investigation.
