Israeli police detain Netanyahu's chief of staff, searched home over classified files leak probe

Israel’s police on Sunday reportedly detained the country’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Chief of Staff, Tzachi Braverman, for interrogation over his alleged attempt to obstruct a probe into leaked classified intelligence to German tabloid Bild. Meanwhile, the police kept Braverman’s name hidden and acknowledged the detention of one of Netanyahu’s top aides.

It was Hebrew media outlets that eventually reported that the suspect under investigation was Braverman, a longtime top figure in the prime minister’s inner circle who is set to become Israel’s ambassador to the UK. “This morning, a senior official in the Prime Minister’s Office has been detained by Lahav 433 officers on suspicion of obstructing investigative procedures,” police said in a statement.

Investigators in the police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit searched Braverman’s home during the morning raid and questioned him in the unit’s headquarters in Lod. Channel 13 reported that officers seized Braverman’s phone and also summoned Omer Mansour, a spokesperson in the PMO, to give testimony in the affair.

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Netanyahu’s ‘inner circle’ under radar

It is pertient to note that the interrogation of Braverman came right after the Israeli Prime Minister’s indicted former spokesman Eli Feldstein claimed Braverman knew of a covert investigation into the leak months before it was publicised. Fledstein recalled that the Israeli chief of staff assured him that he’d be able to quash the probe.

In an interview with Kan public broadcaster last month, Feldstein said Braverman asked to meet him late at night in an underground parking lot in the Kirya military headquarters. Here, Feldstein informed him that the IDF had launched an investigation into the leak. Braverman allegedly told Feldstein that the list of suspects went as high as the Prime Minister’s Office and urged him to inform him if he was in any way connected to the leak, as he would be able to “shut it down.”

Following the interview, the Israeli police launched an investigation into the matter. A source in Lahav 433 told Channel 12 that Feldstein is expected to give testimony in the unit’s office on Sunday. At the same time, Kan reported that investigators may arrange a face-to-face confrontation with Braverman.

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An upcoming role

According to The Times of Israel, Braverman is currently slated to take over as Israel’s next ambassador to the United Kingdom in the coming months. In light of Braverman’s appointment, Opposition leader Yair Lapid posted to X that London should immediately put this on hold.

“It cannot be that a man suspected of involvement in obstructing a serious security investigation will be the face of Israel in one of the most important countries in Europe,” he wrote in the post. Meanwhile, the Movement for Quality Government in Israel called for the suspension of ambassadorship, noting that the position “is a most sensitive role that demands complete public trust.”

However, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar rejected the calls and said Braverman “was lawfully appointed to the position of Israel’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom. His appointment passed all the required stages.” Sa’ar stressed that “harming an individual—whether in their employment or in their official role—at the preliminary stage of an investigation is inconsistent with the fundamental values of human and civil rights and with the right to due process.”

“I do not believe that the mere existence of an investigation justifies undermining Braverman’s appointment or suspending him from his position,” the Israeli foreign minister argued. Overall, the matter is still under investigation.