Middle East conflict | Bild newspaper as accomplice: Netanyahu confidant faces charges

Israel's Attorney General intends to indict Jonathan Urich, a close advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, pending a preliminary hearing. According to a report in the Israeli magazine "Calcalist," he is accused of intentionally leaking and destroying classified information with the aim of influencing public opinion in favor of the prime minister.

The case is related to the so-called "Bild" affair , also known in Israel as "Bibileaks." On September 6, 2024, the German tabloid published a report based on an allegedly top-secret Israeli military document. It stated that then-Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar had no interest in a hostage deal—a claim contradicted by several intelligence sources to the Israeli news portal "Ynet." According to the sources, the document actually suggests the opposite.

The authenticity of the document was also questioned: A spokesman for the Israeli military explained in response to an inquiry by the "nd" that it was not a paper from Sinwar, but a document from lower-ranking Hamas members.

According to the indictment, Urich, together with former government spokesman Eli Feldstein, deliberately obtained "highly confidential information" from military systems. The goal was to influence public discourse following the murder of six Israeli hostages in a tunnel in Rafah in August 2024—particularly in light of growing criticism of the government.

The leaked documents then reached the "Bild" newspaper, where they were published with the Israeli government's interpretation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu subsequently publicly quoted the "Bild" publication, as did his wife, Sara Netanyahu. In Israel, it is therefore suspected that the publication, with the help of the German newspaper Springer, may have been part of a political campaign.

Two days before the report, the Prime Minister's Office held a press conference to justify military control of the Philadelphia Corridor—an area along the border with Egypt through which Hamas allegedly smuggles weapons and fighters. The content quoted in "Bild" was apparently intended to create the impression that Hamas was planning to smuggle hostages through that very corridor—and thus legitimize Israel's military presence there.

In addition to Bild, the British newspaper Jewish Chronicle also published alleged secret information about Hamas's plans. However, according to Israeli media, this story turned out to be completely fabricated. The author, Elon Perry, had reportedly provided a false biography.

The revelations led to investigations by the military, the domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet, and the police. After several arrests, Urich also came under scrutiny. His lawyers declared the allegations "baseless and politically motivated." Feldstein, who is under house arrest, is now demanding that the conditions be lifted, citing Urich's previous criminal record. This announcement from the Attorney General's Office could now change that.

The close connection between the Israeli government and the Springer Group has long been documented. According to the ARD program "Panorama," Ron Dermer, now Minister for Strategic Affairs, was specifically entrusted with maintaining contacts with the top management of Springer as early as 2011 while serving as Prime Minister. The magazine cites a prominent example of this close coordination: on December 3, 2012, "Bild" published a pro-government article intended to discredit Chancellor Merkel's foreign policy advisor, Christoph Heusgen. Heusgen had previously suggested linking a German submarine delivery to Israel to political concessions—such as a settlement freeze in the West Bank and a two-state solution.

Last year, the Springer Group also deepened its collaboration with pro-Israel media: In June 2024, Bild entered into a formal partnership with the Israeli daily Israel Hayom, a long-time supporter of Netanyahu and his Likud party. The first journalistic expression of this alliance was the article "The Hamas Method," which compared the Palestinian organization to the Nazis during the Holocaust. The article was co-authored by Bild political editor Filipp Piatov, who, along with his deputy editor-in-chief Paul Ronzheimer, also contributed to the controversial report on alleged Hamas negotiating strategies.

The German journalist Hanno Hauenstein, among others, reported on the "Bibileaks" of September 2024 – and in another investigation demonstrated how the Springer Group even profited from the sale of real estate in occupied territories through its participation in an Israeli advertising newspaper.

"It's a media scandal of considerable proportions, which in this country hasn't even led to the demonstrably misleading report in 'Bild' being corrected or taken offline," Hauenstein told nd. The Springer newspaper "deliberately contributed to the sabotage of a ceasefire and thereby knowingly endangered the lives of thousands of Palestinians and dozens of Israeli hostages."