JERUSALEM – An Israeli state prosecutor on Thursday indicted an aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on charges of passing on classified documents intended to harm the state in a case that has rocked the country as it wages war on multiple fronts.

Eli Feldstein was accused of illegally obtaining and releasing sensitive military information in hopes of swaying public opinion and easing pressure on Netanyahu to make major concessions to secure the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza.

An Israeli soldier was separately accused of handing Feldstein the documents, which were allegedly obtained from Gaza and suggested that Hamas militants wanted to sow discord in Israeli society to help it win a favorable hostage deal.

Both men deny the charges, which carry lengthy prison sentences.

Netanyahu himself has not been charged but his supporters have accused prosecutors of leading a politically motivated witch hunt against the backdrop of a national emergency.

“They are trying to keep people’s mouths shut. And we will not accept that. Enough is enough,” said Shoshana Edasis, one of dozens of pro-government protesters who demonstrated outside the court on Thursday.

“People have started to rise up and understand that we are losing our democracy.”

A copy of the indictment seen by Reuters says the two suspects had created a mechanism to relay information that circumvented accepted protocols for sharing such documents.

“The two indicted suspects acted to extract information classified to the most confidential level, while taking the concrete risk of causing serious harm to critical national security interests,” it said.

Instead of leaking the information to Israeli media, Feldstein is accused of giving it to the German magazine Bild to circumvent local censors who would have banned publication.

The paper published its article in September, citing the document, allegedly written by a Hamas official, which called on the group to exert “psychological pressure” on the hostages’ families in an attempt to squeeze concessions from Netanyahu.

Netanyahu later pointed to the article, saying it confirmed his hard-line position on the hostage affair.

The case has come at a time of growing tension within Israeli society, even as its army remains locked in war both in Gaza on its southern border and Lebanon, to the north.

Government allies have been accused by critics of plotting to oust the justice minister and the head of the Shin Bet’s internal security service, while hostage families have been abused by people they believe want to sell Israel out.

In an unusually impassioned speech on Thursday, President Isaac Herzog warned that Israel risked tearing itself apart.

“What the hell is happening to us? Is this logical? Haven’t we suffered enough?” he said. “This is absolute madness. This is madness that must be stopped.” Reuters