Israel’s attorney general’s office said an indictment against Netanyahu aide Yonatan Urich would be filed in a Tel Aviv court following a hearing process with his legal team.

According to a letter sent to Urich’s lawyers and reviewed by AFP, prosecutors intend to charge him with transmitting classified information, possession and transfer of classified materials, and destruction of evidence.

The investigation centers on the alleged leak of a classified document linked to Israel’s war in Gaza in 2024, in violation of Israeli military censorship regulations.

The leaked material was reportedly used to reinforce Netanyahu’s public position that Hamas was not genuinely pursuing a ceasefire agreement and that hostages seized during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks could only be freed through sustained military pressure.

Israeli authorities have already indicted two former Netanyahu advisers, Eli Feldstein and Ari Rosenfeld, in connection with the same case.

The legal pressure surrounding Netanyahu’s inner circle has intensified in recent months amid multiple investigations linked to the government’s conduct during the Gaza conflict and allegations involving foreign lobbying.

Urich is also among the figures implicated in the so-called “Qatargate” affair, in which several close Netanyahu associates are suspected of working to promote the interests of Qatar within Israel while Doha played a central mediation role in hostage and ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

Qatar has hosted senior Hamas officials for years and has frequently acted as an intermediary in indirect negotiations involving Israel, Hamas and international mediators during the Gaza war.

Israeli media reports have alleged that a consulting firm headed by Urich, a former spokesperson for Netanyahu’s Likud party, was hired to improve Qatar’s international image ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Separately, Israeli prosecutors said earlier this week they were considering charges against Netanyahu’s former chief of staff Tzachi Braverman for alleged fraud, breach of trust and obstruction of justice related to the classified document leak investigation.

The case adds to mounting political and legal scrutiny surrounding Netanyahu’s administration as Israel continues military operations in Gaza and faces growing domestic divisions over the handling of the war and hostage negotiations.

The dispute intensified after two ultra-Orthodox factions withdrew support from Netanyahu’s coalition earlier this month, leaving the government without a parliamentary majority and triggering an initial vote on Wednesday to dissolve the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.

The political crisis centers on efforts to pass legislation preserving military draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox seminary students, a decades-old arrangement that has become increasingly unpopular after more than two years of regional conflict and extended reserve duty for many Israelis.

Netanyahu is attempting to advance a bill that would formalize the exemptions and satisfy his religious coalition partners, but opposition within his own bloc has cast doubt over its chances of passage.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel said she was among several coalition lawmakers unwilling to support the legislation, describing demands by ultra-Orthodox parties as unfair during wartime.
“The ultra-Orthodox are trying to extort us. It’s immoral. It’s not fair,” Haskel said after Wednesday’s parliamentary vote, where she wore her military uniform to underscore her opposition.

Analysts say Netanyahu’s dependence on ultra-Orthodox parties, which currently hold 18 seats in the 120-member Knesset, has long helped him maintain political stability despite corruption allegations, repeated elections and regional conflicts.

“He made a promise to his most loyal allies in the coalition, and he could not deliver,” said Shmuel Rosner, referring to Netanyahu’s pledge to protect the exemptions system.

Ultra-Orthodox lawmaker Yitzhak Pindrus said his faction would not return to the coalition without legislation guaranteeing continued exemptions.
“We need the draft bill,” Pindrus said.

The political standoff reflects broader tensions within Israeli society over military service obligations. Most Jewish Israeli men are required to complete nearly three years of mandatory military service followed by reserve duty, while women generally serve two years.
Roughly 13,000 ultra-Orthodox men reach conscription age annually, but fewer than 10% enlist, according to Israeli parliamentary data.

The issue has become more politically sensitive as Israel maintains military operations in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria while also confronting heightened tensions with Iran, stretching reserve forces and intensifying public frustration over unequal service burdens.

Israel’s Supreme Court ruled in 2017 that the longstanding exemptions lacked legal basis, but successive governments delayed implementing changes.

Researchers say Netanyahu now faces a narrowing political path: preserving ties with ultra-Orthodox parties risks alienating broader conservative voters frustrated by military disparities, while abandoning the exemptions could permanently fracture his governing alliance.

Political observers say the coalition’s collapse could move elections forward from October to September, potentially ending one of the most durable governing partnerships in Israeli politics.

Speaking during a visit on Monday to Palestinian villages in the West Bank alongside former senior Israeli officials including Matan Vilnai and Amram Mitzna, Pardo said the conditions he witnessed reminded him of historic persecution faced by Jews in Europe and left him feeling “ashamed to be Jewish,” according to remarks carried by Israel’s Channel 13.

Pardo said Israeli authorities were fully aware of settler attacks on Palestinian residents but had chosen not to intervene, describing the trend as a moral and strategic danger for the country.

He warned that confronting radical settlers, some of whom he said were armed and enjoyed political backing, could trigger internal instability and deepen divisions inside Israel.Pardo specifically pointed to the influence of far-right cabinet ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, both of whom have supported stronger Israeli control over the West Bank and expansion of settlements.

Violence across the occupied territory has intensified in recent months, with Palestinian communities reporting repeated attacks, destruction of homes and farmland, and forced displacement.The United Nations considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law and has repeatedly called for a halt to settlement expansion, a position Israel disputes.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said annexation of parts of the West Bank was not currently being pursued, citing opposition from U.S. President Donald Trump.However, Saar said Israel remained opposed to the establishment of a Palestinian state and would continue to strengthen its presence in the territory, a position that has further strained relations with the European Union and drawn criticism from rights groups and international partners.

The West Bank, captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, remains one of the central flashpoints in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with rising tensions fueling fears of broader regional instability.

Ben-Gvir, a far-right member of Israel’s government, said during the visit that he was pushing for increased Jewish prayer rights at the compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and revered by Muslims as Islam’s third-holiest site.

“Today, I feel like the owner here,” he said in a video released by his office, adding that more changes were needed and urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take further steps.

The compound, located in Jerusalem’s Old City, is administered by a Jordanian religious authority under a decades-old status quo arrangement that permits Jewish visits but prohibits prayer at the site.

Jordan’s foreign ministry said Ben-Gvir’s visit constituted “a desecration of its sanctity, a condemnable escalation and an unacceptable provocation,” warning that it breached the established status quo.

Ben-Gvir’s spokesman said the minister had sought broader access and prayer permits for Jewish visitors and confirmed that he had prayed during the visit.There was no immediate response from Netanyahu’s office.

In previous instances, similar visits by Ben-Gvir have been followed by statements from Israeli authorities reaffirming that there is no change to the status quo.

The compound has long been a focal point of tensions in the region, with past disputes over access and prayer rights triggering unrest.

Religious sites in Jerusalem, including Al-Aqsa, had been largely closed to the public during the ongoing regional conflict.

No immediate signs of unrest were reported following Sunday’s visit.

To Dean, the implications are not just unrealistic, but dangerous.

In a compelling commentary that has stirred debate across diplomatic and analytical circles, Aimen Dean — former MI6 operative inside Al-Qaeda, author of Nine Lives, and now a respected political analyst and podcaster — has sounded the alarm over what he describes as Israel’s “Buffer Illusion” in southern Syria. His critique goes beyond routine regional analysis and touches upon a broader, deeply rooted issue: the dangerous confluence of fantasy-driven geopolitics and expansionist ambitions.

Dean, whose insider knowledge of Middle Eastern militancy and intelligence lends weight to his views, draws attention to a strategy being quietly nurtured within Israel’s far-right establishment — the idea of carving out a so-called “Druze Corridor” from southern Syria to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The plan, as he outlines, is riddled with strategic absurdities and moral hazards.

A Strategy of Buffers within Buffers

Dean begins with an explanation of the “buffer zone” concept — a long-standing tool of geopolitical defense. In its classical form, a buffer is a neutral or allied territory intended to serve as a cushion against external threats. But Dean argues that Israel’s ultra-right government has taken the idea to impractical extremes, creating a doctrine in which each buffer demands a buffer of its own, resulting in an endless nesting of expansionist outposts.

He describes this approach as “a game of strategic nesting dolls that soon loses all clarity.” The original objective of safeguarding national security becomes overshadowed by an increasingly untenable geographic ambition — one that defies not only logic but the basic realities of the land and its people.

The Druze Dilemma in Southern Syria

Nowhere is this “Buffer Illusion” more visible than in Israel’s covert interest in Suwayda, a Druze-majority province in southern Syria. With a population of roughly 380,000, Suwayda has historically remained on the fringes of Syria’s broader conflicts, maintaining a cautious distance from both government and opposition forces. Some factions within the Druze community — reportedly with Israeli encouragement — are now flirting with the idea of forming an independent Druze state.

To Dean, the implications are not just unrealistic, but dangerous. He warns that such aspirations are not merely about community self-determination but could be a front for creating a pro-Israel entity that ultimately seeks to physically link up with the Golan Heights — forming what he dubs the “Druze Corridor.”

But standing in the way of that ambition is a significant obstacle: the Sunni Arab-majority province of Daraa. Home to more than 1.3 million people, Daraa lies directly between Suwayda and the Golan, making the dream of a contiguous Druze corridor a demographic and geographic impossibility.

“You cannot simply leapfrog over a million people,” Dean writes, “many of whom are fiercely tied to their ancestral lands.” Any attempt to do so, he warns, would require forced displacement or large-scale violence — a move that could cost tens of thousands of Israeli lives and ignite a region-wide conflagration.

A Strategic Blunder in the Making

Dean sharply criticizes the lack of strategic foresight in entertaining such scenarios. He suggests that Israel’s current political leadership — emboldened by ideological rigidity and military confidence — is toying with plans that defy logic and disregard regional sensitivities.

He questions the endgame of such a policy: “Is it truly about security, or is it about reshaping Syria’s south to Israel’s liking under the guise of minority protection?” If so, he warns, the move could backfire disastrously by inflaming sectarian tensions and undermining Israel’s broader diplomatic standing.

Dean offers a hypothetical but thought-provoking counterstrategy for the Syrian government, now reportedly under President Farouq al-Shara’: grant Suwayda its independence, if that is what its people desire. The catch, however, is clear — such an entity would be landlocked, resource-poor, and wholly dependent on Damascus and Amman for basic sustenance and international recognition.

“If independence is what they demand, let them test the waters of sovereignty,” Dean states. “No blood need be shed. Let them go, not out of weakness, but out of strength and confidence.”

He argues that doing so would strip Israel of any pretext for military intervention and would reveal whether the Druze nationalist push is about genuine autonomy or strategic alignment with Israel.

No Corridor, No Fantasy

Dean’s analysis culminates in a stark warning: “There is no corridor. There never was.” Geography and demographics, he insists, are not variables that can be negotiated away. “No strategic imagination, no military maneuver, no political manipulation can erase geography or overwrite demographics.”

His commentary serves as a sobering reminder that policies rooted in wishful thinking — especially in the volatile Middle East — often lead to unintended consequences. In the case of the Druze Corridor fantasy, the cost of pursuing illusion over reality may prove far greater than any perceived security benefit.

As regional dynamics continue to shift, Dean’s words resonate as a cautionary tale against ideological overreach and the perils of ignoring the immutable truths of land and people.

There are signs that some in politics are tiring of Netanyahu’s dominance. In 2021, he was ousted by an unlikely coalition that united left-wing, far-right and Arab political parties keen to block him from power.  

Israel’s fifth election in less than four years opens on Tuesday, pitting familiar rivals against each other. None is more familiar than former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is aiming to capitalise on the current political upheaval and return to power.