Israeli police detain aide to Netanyahu

JERUSALEM – Israeli police said on Jan 11 they detained a senior Netanyahu aide suspected of obstructing an investigation, with local media reporting that it was tied to leaks of military information during the Gaza war.

Police did not name the individual, but Israeli media reported it was Mr Tzachi Braverman, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s current chief of staff, who is designated to be Israel’s next ambassador to Britain.

“This morning, a senior official in the Prime Minister’s Office was detained for questioning... on suspicion of obstructing an investigation,” the police said.

“The suspect... is currently being questioned under caution.”

Former Netanyahu aide Eli Feldstein recently alleged that Mr Braverman tried to obstruct an investigation into a leak of sensitive military information to the foreign press during the war against Hamas in Gaza.

In September 2024, Mr Feldstein leaked a classified document from the Israeli military to the German tabloid Bild, for which he was later arrested and indicted.

The document aimed to prove that Hamas was not interested in a ceasefire deal, and to support Mr Netanyahu’s claim that the hostages captured by Palestinian militants

in their Oct 7, 2023, assault on Israel

could be released only through military pressure instead of negotiations.

In an interview with Israel’s public broadcaster KAN, Mr Feldstein said Mr Braverman asked to meet him soon after the leak.

Mr Braverman informed him that the army had launched a probe into the affair, and said he could “shut down” the investigation, according to Mr Feldstein.

In the same interview, Mr Feldstein said Mr Netanyahu was aware of the leak and was in favour of using the document to drum up public support for the war.

Israeli media reported that police also searched Mr Braverman’s home on Jan 11, and that Mr Feldstein was expected to speak with police later in the day regarding Mr Braverman’s suspected involvement in the affair.

Mr Feldstein is also a suspect in the so-called “Qatargate” scandal, in which he and other close associates of Mr Netanyahu are suspected of having been recruited by Qatar to promote the Gulf monarchy’s image in Israel.

Qatar hosts senior Hamas leaders and has played a mediating role between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement during the war in Gaza.

An investigation is under way and Mr Feldstein, together with another Netanyahu aide, was taken into custody in late March.

In response to Mr Braverman’s questioning by the police on Jan 11, opposition leader Yair Lapid called to suspend his appointment as ambassador to Britain.

“In the 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 socila media platform 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.”

Mr Braverman is not suspected of direct involvement in the Qatargate affair, according to Israeli media. AFP