Netanyahu adviser charged in leak of classified Hamas negotiations memo

A senior aide to Benjamin Netanyahu has been indicted over a classified Hamas negotiations memo that prosecutors say was pushed into public view to shape wartime opinion and protect the prime minister politically. The case centers on an IDF Military Intelligence Directorate document published in Bild in September 2024, after six hostages were murdered by Hamas in Gaza, and investigators say the leak was meant to influence Israelis against a hostage deal and shift blame toward Hamas.

The attorney general’s office said the document was passed to the German tabloid in a bid to bypass Israel’s military censor, a move that put national-security rules and political messaging on a collision course. Jonatan Urich was charged with transmitting classified information with intent to harm state security, possessing classified information, and destroying evidence. The indictment, filed on June 11, 2026, added Urich to the broader Bild case, which already included former Prime Minister’s Office spokesman Eli Feldstein and IDF reservist Ari Rosenfeld.

Prosecutors said the leak was not just about exposing information, but about controlling the story around the Gaza war and the hostage negotiations. By circulating the memo when public anger was rising over the killings of six hostages in Gaza, they said the publication was intended to skew debate over who was blocking a deal and to bolster Netanyahu’s argument that Hamas, not the prime minister, was responsible for the stalled agreement.

Urich is no longer officially employed by the Prime Minister’s Office, but reports say he still frequents it and continues to work with Netanyahu. That detail has sharpened scrutiny of how closely the prime minister’s circle remained tied to the alleged leak and how much political influence could still be exercised through informal channels even after questions were raised about the document.

Urich’s lawyers rejected the indictment, calling the decision erroneous and disconnected from evidence. Urich also responded on social media with a sarcastic jab at the attorney general. The case now sits inside a wider storm around Netanyahu’s associates, including the separate Qatargate investigation, in which Urich and Feldstein were arrested on suspicion of receiving money from Qatar to promote the Gulf state’s image in Israel after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack. For Netanyahu’s inner circle, the indictment deepens the question of whether wartime intelligence was handled as a matter of state security or as a tool of political survival.