In a major blow to Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara and the State Prosecutor’s Office, Tel Aviv District Court Judge Ala Masarwa sharply criticized the prosecution on Tuesday, saying that there is “evidential weakness” regarding the claim attributed to Eli Feldstein in the indictment against him – that he intended to harm state security.

Masarwa presided over a hearing on Tuesday afternoon regarding the State Prosecutor’s Office’s request to extend the detention for Feldstein and the other defendant in the case of the classified document leak from the Prime Minister’s Office.

Masarwa said that there is strong evidence regarding the offenses of transferring classified information and disseminating it via media outlets but the evidence is weak that Feldstein is guilty of intending to harm state security.

The judge also noted that he intends to seriously weigh Feldstein’s claim of selective enforcement compared to another Netanyahu advisor involved in the case, who was not arrested or prosecuted, as well as Feldstein’s claim that his goal was for the secret material to reach the attention of the Prime Minister.

In another dramatic development, at the end of the hearing on Tuesday evening, Masarwa ruled that Feldstein and the other defendant, a Chareidi non-commissioned IDF reserve officer, must be released from prison to house arrest. The State Prosecutor’s Office had requested to keep the defendants in prison until the end of the legal proceedings against them, which could be a matter of years. The defendants have already been imprisoned in harsh conditions for over a month.

The prosecution announced that it would appeal the decision and requested the court to delay the release of Feldstein and the IDF officer until a hearing on the appeal regarding their case is held. The court accepted the prosecution’s request and ordered that the defendants remain in custody for one more day – until tomorrow at 1:00 PM.

Following the hearing, Eli’s mother, Mrs. Bina Feldstein, said that Judge Masarwa’s statements have provided the family a sense of relief and hope for the future.

About two weeks ago, a Kan News report quoted a senior source in the law enforcement system who said that the evidence is weak regarding the charge against Feldstein of harming state security and he predicts that the parties will ultimately reach a plea deal in the case.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)