“A high-ranking official in the Prime Minister's Office has been detained for questioning on charges of obstructing the investigation,” the police said in a statement, without giving the name of the arrested person.
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Who was arrested in Israel?
What charges did Braverman face?
What did the leaked Hamas document contain?
How did the opposition leader react to the Braverman case?
According to Israeli media, it is Cachi Braverman, the current head of the prime minister's office, who is to become Israel's ambassador to Great Britain. These claims are based on accusations by Eli Feldstein, a former Netanyahu adviser who is one of the suspects in the case, who accused Braverman of obstructing the investigation into leaks to the press. At the beginning of January, Feldstein, in a statement for the public broadcaster Kan, said that the head of the prime minister's office had suggested that the investigation be classified.
The case concerns a secret document allegedly coming from the late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, which was leaked to the German daily “Bild” in September 2024. It reportedly included information that Hamas was not interested in a ceasefire with Israel or reaching an agreement to release Israeli hostages.
The Israeli opposition is thundering
According to Israeli media, this leak was intended to strengthen the arguments of the government in Tel Aviv that only military pressure, not negotiations, would lead to the release of the hostages. In his interview for Kan, Feldstein emphasized that Netanyahu was aware of the leak and was looking for a way to convince public opinion to go to war with Hamas.
Following Braverman's detention, opposition leader Yair Lapid called for the suspension of his appointment as ambassador to the UK, calling it “unacceptable” that a person suspected of obstructing an investigation into the country's security represented Israel in one of the most important countries in Europe.
In turn, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar condemned Braverman's detention and called it a “witch hunt.”
