Eli Feldstein, Yonatan Urich arrested in 'Qatar-Gate' affair
The crimes specifically attributed to the two include bribery, contact with a foreign agent, and breach of trust • A journalist and another major suspect have also been interrogated under warning
The Israel Police on Monday announced that it had arrested two employees of the Prime Minister's Office as part of the "Qatar-gate" investigation.
The two have been identified as Eli Feldstein and Yonatan Urich, with the arrest coming on the 20th day of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's testimony in his corruption case at the District Court in Tel Aviv. His lawyer, Amit Hadad, requested a break in the hearing as he represents Urich as well. Simultaneously, another key suspect was interrogated under caution, in addition to a journalist who testified in public, on suspicion of having contact with a foreign agent.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and the Justice Ministry instructed the police to also summon Netanyahu for investigation on the subject. He gave his testimony at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem. Law enforcement sources told i24NEWS that Baharav-Miara personally updated Netanyahu in a phone call about the decision to summon him following the police's request.
After being questioned, Netanyahu slammed the probe as a witch hunt against his staffers.
The Likud party responded angrily to the arrests, calling the detention of Urich "a new low in the political witch hunt to depose a right-wing prime minister and to prevent the dismissal of the failing head of the Shin Bet."
They said that "the attempt to intimidate Yonatan Urich in order to forcibly extract false testimony against the prime minister through threats and false arrest is another criminal act of a frantic legal clique."
Earlier, Israeli businessman Gil Birger admitted in a recording revealed on Channel 12 that he had transferred money, from an American lobbyist of the Qatari government named Jay Footlik, to Eli Feldstein, who is a major suspect in the classified documents affair. According to Birger, he did this as a favor to help Fouolik with taxes. At this stage, it is not yet known whether he knew that the money originated from Qatar.
The exposure comes against the backdrop of the "Qatar-Gate" affair, when last month the Shin Bet announced that it was examining a connection between elements in the Prime Minister's Office and Qatar, following "fears of harm to state secrets." The Shin Bet's announcement was published, after Knesset members Gilad Kariv and Naama Lazimi approached the security agency, due to publications claiming that some of Netanyahu's advisors provided services to Qatar, included finances for Hamas. However, a gag order was imposed on any detail of the investigation.
In the wake of the case, the government has voted to fire the Shin Bet chief, Ronen Bar, with Netanyahu claiming it is over a loss of trust after the failure to prevent the October
7 massacre, which became worse and worse over the months of war.