Israeli Prosecutors Indict Netanyahu Aide Jonatan Urich for Leaking Classified IDF Intelligence

Israeli prosecutors indicted Jonatan Urich, a senior media adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Thursday for transmitting classified information with the intent to harm state security, according to The Times of Israel.

“Current section Yonatan Urich, a close aide to Netanyahu, has been charged with leaking classified documents with the intent to harm state security, an offense carrying a maximum life sentence”

Haaretz

The State Attorney’s Office said the indictment related to Urich’s role in leaking a classified document from IDF military intelligence to the Bild newspaper in September 2024.

Haaretz

The leak was tied to Netanyahu’s claim that it was Hamas, not the prime minister, that was holding up a deal for the release of hostages held in Gaza, and the Times of Israel said the leak occurred days after six hostages were murdered by Hamas when Israeli troops unknowingly approached the place where they were being held under the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

The Times of Israel also said the internal Hamas memo was some nine months old when it was leaked and that media reports later indicated that Bild distorted the file to serve the interests of the Netanyahu government.

In parallel, Haaretz said Urich was charged with leaking classified documents with the intent to harm state security, an offense carrying a maximum life sentence.

The Times of Israel reported that prosecutors requested the Tel Aviv District Court immediately bar Urich from the Prime Minister’s Office and from all security facilities and places where classified documents might be kept, and from contacting anyone involved in the case.

Judge Ala Masarwa rejected the move, with the request for restrictive conditions to be dealt with in a court hearing on July 5, according to The Times of Israel.

Haaretz

Haaretz said authorities also seek to bar him from contacting Netanyahu and other senior political figures.

The Times of Israel further reported that Urich was charged with destroying evidence by switching phones the day after Feldstein and Urich were arrested.

The Times of Israel said the indictment alleged that Urich, together with Netanyahu’s former military affairs spokesman Eli Feldstein, leaked the document knowing it was classified and that the military censor had blocked its publication in Israel.

The State Attorney’s Office said in a statement to the press that the actions of Urich, Rosenfeld and Feldstein led to the disclosure of the existence of a secret intelligence asset, its capabilities and the methods by which it was used, according to The Times of Israel.

“Current section Yonatan Urich, a close aide to Netanyahu, has been charged with leaking classified documents with the intent to harm state security, an offense carrying a maximum life sentence”

Haaretz

It added that the disclosure of the secret information to the public could cause real damage to the security interests of the State of Israel, mainly in the field of intelligence gathering and the disclosure of intelligence sources, through whom human lives are saved, the Times of Israel reported.

Haaretz framed the case as a severe espionage charge against a close aide to Netanyahu, describing the indictment and the intent to harm state security.

The Times of Israel linked the leak to the Gaza hostage-release dispute and said the internal Hamas memo obtained by IDF intelligence suggested the terror group was not interested in a hostage deal.

The Times of Israel also said Feldstein, Urich, and Einhorn are suspects in the so-called Qatargate affair, in which the three are alleged to have taken money to spearhead a public relations campaign to cast Qatar in a positive light for over a year after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.