The Lod District Court ruled on Monday in favor of an appeal by the police to bar Tzachi Braverman, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief of staff, from the Prime Minister’s Office due to an ongoing police investigation into Braverman on suspicion of obstruction of justice.

Judge Jacob Spasser ruled that Braverman cannot be present in the Prime Minister’s Office or the IDF’s headquarters at the Kirya complex in Tel Aviv until January 26.

Spasser also prohibited Braverman from contacting a list of people connected to, but not necessarily suspects in, the Bild leaked documents case — including Netanyahu himself, the prime minister’s military secretary, key suspects Jonatan Urich and Eli Feldstein, and various other officials in the Prime Minister’s Office — until February 10.

The judge ruled, however, that the restriction on Braverman leaving the country could be shortened to last until January 30, whereas police had sought to keep it in place until February 9.

The affair revolves around the allegedly unlawful removal of sensitive and classified documents from IDF Military Intelligence by a reservist NCO, Ari Rosenfeld, and the leaking of one of those documents to the German Bild newspaper by Feldstein.

The leak was part of an effort by the prime minister’s aides, allegedly including Urich as well, to defend Netanyahu’s position that only further military pressure would lead to the release of the hostages being held in Gaza, in the face of a severe public backlash to the murder of six hostages by Hamas at the end of August 2024.

Braverman was

© The Times of Israel