Ex-ISA Chief Says He Briefed Netanyahu on Feldstein Arrest, and He Reacted in Surprise

Former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar said in testimony that he informed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the arrest of Netanyahu’s former spokesman, Eli Feldstein, shortly after it happened. According to the report, Netanyahu and his office were briefed on the operation at an early stage of the investigation, while a full gag order was still in place and the details were kept to a very small circle.

Bar said he insisted on personally notifying the prime minister once he understood the suspect was a civilian connected in some way to the Prime Minister’s Office and that an arrest was needed for the investigation. He described that as an unusual step that was not well received by investigators and law enforcement, but said it mattered to him because of the trust between him and Netanyahu. He said he was allowed to give only a brief notice about the arrest and its general reason, and he does not remember whether he was permitted to specify that it involved a Bild-related leak or only a general secret-dissemination case.

Bar testified that right after the arrest, and after Netanyahu woke up, he called the prime minister using the phone of Netanyahu’s close security guard. Netanyahu, he said, reacted with surprise, and Bar told him he could not elaborate. About three hours later, during a ceremony at Mount Herzl, Netanyahu asked for a few more details, but Bar again refused to comment. Bar said Netanyahu did not pressure him in that conversation.

The report also says that, according to suspicion, Jonathan Urich, one of Netanyahu’s closest associates, destroyed the contents of his cellphone within a day of Feldstein’s arrest. Netanyahu has already given testimony in the case, but he was not asked whether he passed the information on to others. The available information indicates the arrest reached the Prime Minister’s Office very soon after it took place.