Israeli prosecutors filed an indictment against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's communications adviser Yonatan Urich, charging him with intent to harm state security by leaking classified information to the German newspaper Bild to undermine hostage deal efforts. The court also banned Urich from contacting Netanyahu.
The State Prosecutor's Office formally submitted the indictment against Yonatan Urich, a senior communications adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at 14:48 Jerusalem time. The charge sheet accuses Urich of passing a classified intelligence item to the German newspaper Bild with intent to harm state security — specifically, to undermine ongoing efforts to secure the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza. Immediately following the filing, the court imposed a ban on Urich contacting Netanyahu, marking the first such restriction to be issued as part of the indictment itself.
As The Zioneer reported earlier today, the story unfolded in rapid succession: at 10:38, prosecutors first announced the indictment and requested a court order barring Urich from the Prime Minister's Office. By 10:50, the desk noted the expanded charges — passing secret information, possession of secret material, and destruction of evidence — and the prosecution's demand for Urich's full removal from the PMO. At 11:14, a further bulletin confirmed that prosecutors were also seeking to block Urich from contacting Netanyahu, who had been added to the witness list. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara placed Netanyahu as the 80th and final prosecution witness at 12:03, effectively barring Urich from contacting any witnesses. The court ban issued at 14:48 now formalizes that restriction.
In the wider picture, Urich — who also serves as the Likud campaign strategist — has been at the center of a growing legal and political controversy. His attorney Amit Hadad, at 14:47, called the prosecution's moves "a complete bad-faith political act," noting that Urich had been managing the Likud campaign and speaking with the prime minister for three and a half months without restrictions. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said at 11:30 that Netanyahu "fears Urich and cannot act," while commentator Yaakov Bardugo at 12:02 alleged the prosecution was conducting a "targeted thwarting" operation against the prime minister.
It remains open whether the court will grant the prosecution's broader request to bar Urich from the Prime's Minister's Office and all security facilities until the proceedings conclude. The defense maintains the charges are politically motivated, and no testimony from Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar or from Netanyahu himself has yet been taken in the case.
10 developments
Source and signal
- Internal intake