Israeli court weighs lifting gag order on classified information leak case

Israeli media reports that an Israeli court is considering lifting a gag order on a case involving suspected information leaks from an associate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

A court document confirmed that Israeli police, the military and the Shin Bet internal intelligence agency are investigating the suspects linked to the leaks. 

The leaks concern information shared with two European media outlets by an adviser close to Netanyahu, who may not have had the necessary security clearance.

Netanyahu said the person in question "never participated in security discussions, was not exposed to or received classified information and did not take part in secret visits". 

The leaked documents are reported to have formed the basis of a widely discredited article in the Jewish Chronicle (JC) that claimed Hamas planned to smuggle captives from Gaza to Egypt and an article in the German newspaper Bild that claimed Hamas delayed talks as a form of psychological warfare against Israel. 

The JC has since withdrawn the discredited article and distanced itself from the author who wrote the original piece. 

Israeli media criticised both articles, accusing them of supporting Netanyahu’s demands in talks and absolving him of blame for their failure.