Bild leak affair defendants to respond to charges against them in first since Urich added

The Tel Aviv District Court has scheduled December 15 for defendants in the "Bild leak affair" to respond to charges, more than two years after the initial indictment. This marks the first hearing since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's senior adviser, Yonatan Urich, was added as a defendant alongside former Prime Minister's Office spokesman Eli Feldstein and IDF reservist Ari Rosenfeld. Defense lawyers argued they could not respond to the amended indictment without significant investigative material from the overlapping Qatargate affair. The case centers on allegations that classified Military Intelligence material, including a document on Hamas's negotiation strategy, was removed from IDF systems and published by the German newspaper Bild after the military censor barred its publication in Israel. Prosecutors allege Feldstein and Urich sought to use the document to influence public debate following the deaths of six hostages, directing responsibility towards Hamas.

• Urich is charged with providing secret information with intent to harm state security, providing and possessing secret information, and destroying evidence.
• Feldstein faces charges of providing secret information with intent to harm state security, possessing secret information, and obstruction of justice.
• Rosenfeld is charged with five counts of providing secret information, obstruction of justice, and theft by an authorized person.
• All three defendants deny wrongdoing. Feldstein claims Netanyahu knew about the classified document and the effort to publish it in Bild, an allegation denied by Netanyahu and Urich.