Indictment Filed Against Urich in Classified Documents Case, Prosecutors Seek to Bar Him from PM's Office

The Central District Attorney's Office filed an amended indictment this morning, Thursday, at the Tel Aviv District Court in the case of the leak of classified documents to Bild. At its center is the addition of Jonathan Urich, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's communications adviser, as the third key defendant in the case.

Urich is charged with a series of serious security offenses, including conveying secret information with intent to harm state security, two counts, conveying secret information, possessing secret information and destroying evidence. Alongside the filing of the indictment, which was approved by the attorney general and the state attorney, the prosecution asked to impose restrictive conditions on Urich, including a full additional removal from the Prime Minister's Office and from any security facility.

With this, Urich joins Eli Feldstein, the former spokesman in the prime minister's circle, and reserve intelligence soldier Ari Rosenfeld, who are suspected of stealing highly sensitive raw intelligence information and passing it to the German newspaper Bild. "The boss is pleased": this is how the spokesman apparatus operated behind the backs of security officials.

The amended indictment paints a picture of a method designed to bypass military censorship and official information transfer procedures, with the aim of engineering public discourse in Israel. According to the new facts revealed in the indictment, the chain of transfer of the secret information began when reserve soldier Rosenfeld was exposed, during his service, to a top secret Hamas strategic document. In an effort to pass the information directly to the prime minister, he obtained Feldstein's number. Feldstein quickly updated Urich on WhatsApp: "A source of mine in AMAN... wants to transfer material with immediate urgency to the prime minister... crazy material."

Bypassing censorship through "the follower" abroad: at the beginning of September 2024, immediately after the killing of six hostages in Gaza, Feldstein and Urich sought to redirect the media fire and influence public discourse. Feldstein passed the document to News 12 journalist Ravid Golan, but the censor imposed a sweeping ban on publication. When Feldstein asked Urich who could be "burned abroad," Urich directed him to Israel Einhorn, known as "the follower," a communications adviser who had worked with them on the Likud campaign and was staying abroad.

"Worth a million dollars": on the night the publication was being prepared in Germany, Feldstein sent Urich a dramatic message: "Don't answer and don't call me, what I'm building for you now for the weekend is worth a million dollars. And the prime minister needs this." The next day, after the publication in Bild, which included quotes from the classified document, Urich wrote to Feldstein: "Take your time... the boss is pleased."

Revision of the prime minister's speech: the connection with the military source grew even more serious. Ahead of the cabinet meeting on 8.9.24, Feldstein and Urich drafted a statement for the prime minister. Feldstein sent the draft to reserve soldier Rosenfeld, who corrected the wording so that it would match precisely the classified intelligence information. The updated statement was read by the prime minister at the opening of the cabinet meeting.