In a short decision issued on Tuesday, Judge Ami Kobo ordered that the enforcement of the magistrate’s ruling be stayed until at least February 1, instructing the state to submit its response to Assenheim’s appeal by that date. Until then, the court ruled, the order compelling the transfer of materials will not be carried out.
In a short decision issued on Tuesday, Judge Ami Kobo ordered that the enforcement of the magistrate’s ruling be stayed until at least February 1, instructing the state to submit its response to Assenheim’s appeal by that date. Until then, the court ruled, the order compelling the transfer of materials will not be carried out.
The appeal challenges a decision by Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court President Judge Menachem Mizrahi, who last week accepted a police request to compel Assenheim - a senior investigative reporter at KAN - to deliver the full, unedited footage of interviews he conducted with Feldstein, a former communications adviser linked to the Prime Minister’s Office.
Police argued that the raw materials were necessary for investigative purposes, including examining the full context of Feldstein’s statements, assessing credibility, and identifying potential discrepancies between his televised remarks and statements given to investigators.
The magistrate’s court accepted that position, ruling that the materials could be seized despite Assenheim’s objections.
In his appeal, Assenheim warned that the order constitutes an unprecedented intrusion into journalistic work and would effectively transform reporters into an arm of law enforcement. The appeal argues that the decision “suffers from serious and substantive flaws in both the procedure followed and the exercise of discretion,” and that it violates constitutional protections of press freedom and the public’s right to receive information.
According to the appeal, compelling journalists to surrender raw materials - as opposed to published content - undermines source protection, editorial independence, and the ability of reporters to conduct investigative journalism, particularly in sensitive political and security-related matters.
Bild leak and Qatargate affairs
The dispute arises against the backdrop of the Bild leak affair, which erupted in November 2024, after the German tabloid published classified Israeli materials relating to Hamas’s stance on hostage negotiations amid the war in Gaza.
Authorities later confirmed that the documents had originated from within Israel’s security establishment and were leaked without authorization, triggering a criminal investigation focused on the source of the leak, the handling of the materials, and the chain of contacts between officials and media outlets.
The investigation has unfolded alongside what has become known as the “Qatargate” affair, a separate but overlapping probe examining alleged ties between individuals in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s orbit and actors linked to Qatar.
That investigation focuses on suspicions that foreign interests sought to influence Israeli public discourse and political decision-making through unofficial channels, including media and communications intermediaries.
While police have stressed that the two affairs are legally distinct, investigators have acknowledged intersecting lines of inquiry relating to media handling, messaging, and the role of political advisers.
In the interview, Feldstein described a late-night meeting at the Kirya military headquarters and suggested that Netanyahu’s chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman, knew about the investigation - a claim Braverman has denied.
Media organizations and press-freedom advocates have warned that the magistrate’s ruling, if upheld, would set a dangerous precedent by allowing police to routinely demand journalists’ unpublished materials whenever an interviewee becomes a subject of investigation.