Eli Feldstein

Eliezer "Eli" Feldstein (Hebrew: אלי פלדשטיין; born about 1992) is Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman for military affairs. He was interrogated and arrested in November 2024 on suspicion of security offenses during the Gaza war, and in March 2025 he was arrested on suspicion of involvement in the Qatari connection affair.^[1]

Eli Feldstein
אלי פלדשטיין
Born	Eli Feldstein 1992 (age 32–33) Petah Tikva, Israel
Alma mater	Yeshiva Or Israel [he]
Occupation	Spokesperson
Years active	2014–present

Biography

Feldstein is a graduate of Yeshiva Or Israel [he] in Petach Tikva, a Haredi-Litvaks yeshiva. In June 2014, he enlisted in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and served as the spokesperson of the Personnel Directorate, where he was responsible for liaison with Haredi media.^[2] In July 2016, he completed an officers course and was appointed chief of staff to the head of the Planning Division in the Planning Directorate. In June 2017, he was appointed operations officer for the IDF Spokesman's Office.^[3]

In July 2019, he was appointed spokesman for the Judea and Samaria Division,^[4] being relieved from regular service with the rank of captain. In December 2022, he was appointed spokesman for the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir,^[5] until he resigned in April 2023.^[6]

In October 2023, on the fourth day of the Israel–Hamas war, he was appointed the spokesman for military affairs for the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, entrusted with the connection between military correspondents and the Bureau of Netanyahu.^[7] He failed a security investigation conducted by the Shin Bet and was not officially employed by Netanyahu's office.^[8]

Legal issues

On 3 November 2024, it was announced that Feldstein was arrested, along with two other suspects, on suspicion of crimes of grave harm to state security for illegally removing classified documents from IDF systems and leaking sensitive security information from the IDF to foreign media.^[9][8] Another suspect has said that he passed the information on to Feldstein to inform the prime minister.^[10] On 13 November 2024, the court extended Feldstein's detention until 17 November 2024, allowing him to meet with a lawyer.^[11]

In March 2025, an Israeli businessman, Gil Birger, moved money from Jay Footlik to Feldstein, as Feldstein's salary in the Office of the Prime Minister, bypassing the Israeli Income tax law.^[12][13]

He was arrested in March 2025 for suspected involvement in the Qatari connection affair. Netanyahu has described Feldstein and his other aide Jonatan Urich as "being held hostage" following their arrests.^[14] The details were under a court-imposed gag order, but Urich's "legal team" requested that the order be lifted, which was granted on 1 April.^[15]

Feldstein was released to house arrest on 4 April 2025.^[16] He is suspected of multiple offenses.^[17][18]

Personal life

Feldstein is a bachelor and lives in Bnei Brak. He is the grandson of the ultra-orthodox educator, Rabbi Pesach Feldstein.