After 13 hours of questioning at the Lahav 433 Major Crimes Unit headquarters, Tzachi Braverman, the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff, was released under restrictive conditions on Sunday evening.
He was prohibited from leaving the country for 30 days, a measure that could jeopardize his appointment as Israel's ambassador to the United Kingdom. Additionally, Braverman was temporarily removed from his position at the Prime Minister’s Office for 15 days and banned from contacting individuals involved in the case for one month.
Omer Mantzour, a communications adviser in the Prime Minister’s Office, was also released after his questioning at Lahav 433. He too faces the same 15-day suspension from the office and a 30-day travel ban.
The investigation centers around the leak of classified security documents to the German publication Bild. Braverman was questioned about the leak alongside Eli Feldstein, former spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is also under investigation for alleged information leaks and obstructing the investigation.
Braverman’s attorney, Jacques Chen, stated: “The Chief of Staff in the Prime Minister’s Office, Mr. Braverman, has completed his police questioning and returned home. During the investigation, he answered all of the investigators’ questions and categorically denied the fabricated claims of a defendant who concealed this information for a year and only chose to reveal it in a television interview. Mr. Braverman was released under restrictive conditions, including a prohibition on contact with the Prime Minister’s Office and individuals involved in the investigation, as well as a short-term travel ban. We are confident that once the investigation concludes, the competent authorities will determine that there is no truth to the claims made by this unreliable defendant."
Likud officials have argued that Braverman’s questioning is a case of “political persecution."
“The questioning of Tzachi Braverman is nothing more than the continuation of a campaign of persecution against the Prime Minister and his staff. This is yet another fishing expedition through phone searches - this time targeting the Chief of Staff - in an attempt to find something that could be used as leverage against him," the Likud party said on Sunday evening.
“In contrast, the prosecution and Attorney General decided that the Military Advocate General, who threw her phone into the sea and had it found five days later, received special treatment. Those who encountered her during the investigation have never been questioned. It turns out that everything depends on which side of the political map you’re on," it added.