Last Sunday, four people were arrested – including a former assistant to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – on suspicion of leaking classified documents to foreign media.
The political opposition is pointing to Netanyahu and asking whether he was involved in the leak, which his office has denied.
This must be thoroughly investigated by the judiciary, according to the activist group Hostages and Missing Families Forum. The organization represents the relatives of most of the hostages and fears that the leak put them in even greater danger.
Smuggling plans
"The suspicions indicate that individuals with ties to the Prime Minister committed one of the largest frauds in the country's history," the organization's statement continues.
Netanyahu has been accused by critics at home of deliberately dragging out the hostage negotiations for his own political survival or to appease radical government colleagues.
Information from the classified military documents was published by the British weekly The Jewish Chronicle and the German Bild. This included suspected plans to smuggle out the then still alive Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and hostages from Gaza to Egypt.
Dozens remaining
Israel's internal security service Shin Bet and the Israeli military began investigating the leak early on.
When an Israeli court announced the four arrests, it was also established that the leak could have significant consequences for Israel's security and the ongoing hostage negotiations.
Hamas is believed to be holding 97 people hostage in Gaza, but according to the Israeli military, at least 34 of these are dead.
