After more than a month in custody, the court on Tuesday evening ordered the release to house arrest of Eli Feldstein and an Intelligence Corps NCO who are suspected of involvement in the leak of classified documents from the Prime Minister's Office.
Following the court's decision, the State Attorney submitted a request to delay the release of the two.
In the ruling, Judge Alaa Masarwa wrote, "The proposed alternatives are solid, provided by normative individuals, and the respondents themselves were normative individuals before their involvement in this case."
Feldstein and the NCO are expected to be released on bail of 100,000 shekels each and a cash deposit of 50,000 shekels.
Minister of Culture and Sports Miki Zohar (Likud) commented on the ruling and said, "The court's decision to release Eli Feldstein and NCO A. to house arrest, after A. sought to relay important intelligence material to the political echelon, restores some justice following long weeks of unjust judicial torment. The State Attorney's request to once again delay their release appears scandalous and irrational by any standard."
During the hearing, the judge noted "evidentiary weaknesses" regarding the charge against the two of endangering state security.
Additionally, the judge said that weight should be given to Feldstein's claim of selective enforcement, pointing to the case of the Prime Minister’s spokesperson, Yonatan Urich, who was neither arrested nor prosecuted, despite claims that his intent was to bring the information to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attention.
The indictment, filed last week at the Tel Aviv District Court, accuses Feldstein of serious offenses, including leaking classified information with intent to harm state security and obstructing justice.
NCO A. is accused of leaking classified information, obstructing justice, and theft. The investigation revealed that Feldstein contacted Urich, requesting help in publishing the information in the foreign press, which led to its publication in the German newspaper Bild.
The charges against Feldstein include: leaking classified information, leaking classified information with intent to harm state security, possession of classified information, and obstruction of justice.