In first, minister calls to ‘fully’ probe Qatargate allegations surrounding PM’s aides

Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli said Wednesday that the Qatargate affair must be fully investigated, in what appeared to be the first time a minister in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has publicly backed the ongoing probe into allegations that the premier’s top aides acted as paid lobbyists for Qatar, where Hamas’s leadership is based.

In an interview with Kan news, Chikli said, “There is no way to defend this – it’s shocking. These matters must be investigated to the fullest.”

Former spokesperson for the prime minister Eli Feldstein and top Netanyahu adviser Jonathan Urich are alleged to have worked on behalf of Qatar while they were in Netanyahu’s employ for the Perception PR firm headed by Yisrael Einhorn, Netanyahu’s former campaign manager.

Einhorn and Perception are believed to have conducted campaigns in Israel and abroad to boost Qatar’s image, particularly in connection with its role as a mediator in last year’s hostage talks.

Last week, i24News published what it said were the contents of text conversations between Feldstein and Einhorn, in which they made up pro-Qatar messages that were presented to journalists as if they were coming from senior Israeli and American officials, focused on elevating Qatar’s role as a hostage deal mediator at the expense of Egypt, the other mediating country.

“It appears there was activity here intended to benefit the Qataris. I assume Einhorn also received money. I don’t know about Feldstein, but it looks very bad,” Chikli said.

Likud MK Eli Dallal echoed Chikli’s calls for a full investigation later on Wednesday, saying, “There is no doubt that this is a very serious problem and the police need to investigate it, and bring to trial anyone who did not act according to the law.”

While many opposition figures have long supported the ongoing investigation into the scandals, this is the first time that a member of the government has done so.

Netanyahu has testified in the Qatargate probe and decried it as a “witch hunt,” though his role has not been formally investigated.

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett on Monday called on Netanyahu to resign, accusing him of engaging in a cover-up of the Qatargate affair, which Bennett called “the most serious act of treason in Israeli history.”

Other political figures have urged a broader investigation into the affair, including Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, who called on Wednesday for an investigation into Netanyahu’s chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman, before he becomes Israel’s ambassador to the United Kingdom.

Speaking in an interview with the Kan public broadcaster, Lapid said: “Someone needs to make sure he is not involved in the affair as the reports suggest,” referring to allegations raised by Feldstein over the Bild leak affair, for which he has been indicted.

Feldstein alleged during a lengthy interview with the Kan public broadcaster this week that Netanyahu was behind the leak of classified intelligence to the German daily Bild to sway Israeli public opinion regarding ongoing hostage negotiations last year.

He further alleged that Braverman got wind of the secret investigation into Feldstein’s leak to Bild months before it was publicized, and assured Feldstein that he’d be able to quash the probe, as well as stop an investigation regarding IDF information security if Feldstein needed it.

Both the Prime Minister’s Office and Braverman have denied Feldstein’s allegations and accused him of lying.