Police arrested Jonatan Urich and Eli Feldstein, top aides to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as suspects in the so-called Qatargate scandal on Monday, just as the attorney general ordered the police to summon the premier for testimony in the ongoing probe.
The prime minister’s motorcade arrived at his office early Monday evening, where he was questioned by investigators in the police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit.
Netanyahu left the Tel Aviv District Court Monday morning, cutting short his criminal trial on corruption charges, to give testimony regarding the alleged unlawful financial ties between his senior staffers and Qatar.
According to a source in Lahav 433 quoted by the Kan public broadcaster, police “gave the prime minister the option of coming to give open testimony [either] today or on another day, but he chose to come today and stop the hearing of his case in court.”
According to a Channel 12 report from before the testimony, the prime minister was to be questioned as someone with knowledge of the affair, rather than as a suspect. The decision as to whether to subsequently question Netanyahu under caution, meaning as a suspect in the case, would be made following his open testimony.
In a very brief statement to the press earlier in the day, the police said that Urich and Feldstein were arrested as suspects within the framework of the investigation.
During the course of the morning, Netanyahu’s attorney Amit Hadad left him in the Tel Aviv courthouse to assist Urich and Feldstein, both of whom are also his clients.
The probe was launched following revelations that Netanyahu’s former spokesman Feldstein — who has been charged with harming national security in a case involving the theft and leaking of classified IDF documents — worked for Qatar via an international firm contracted by Doha to feed Israeli journalists pro-Qatar stories, all while employed in the PMO.
Ordered by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara in late February, the investigation is being conducted by Lahav 433 and the Shin Bet.
Investigators also summoned a journalist Monday to give testimony, which later turned into questioning under caution, as part of the probe. Hebrew media outlets reported that police suspect the unnamed reporter of contact with a foreign agent, but law enforcement did not issue an official statement on the matter.
A police source told Haaretz that law enforcement had obtained the necessary clearance from the State Attorney’s Office to question the suspect, as required for interrogating journalists.
Earlier in March, police questioned both Feldstein and Urich on suspicion of contacting a foreign agent, fraud, money laundering, and bribery. No further details were made available for publication due to a court-imposed gag order on the case.
Last November, it was reported that top Netanyahu aides Urich and Yisrael Einhorn did public relations work for Qatar ahead of the 2022 World Cup as part of the latter’s PR firm Perception, corresponding to the start date of the probe’s time frame.
Police have been seeking to question Einhorn, who now resides in Serbia as an adviser to the country’s President Aleksandar Vučić, as part of the investigation but have struggled due to his living abroad.
On Sunday, Hebrew news outlet Walla reported that Ariel Shafir, a close associate of Urich also formerly employed at Einhorn’s firm, arranged meetings between senior Israeli officials — including a government minister — Gulf-based Israeli businessman Gil Birger and pro-Qatari lobbyist Jay Footlik.
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