Court orders Qatargate suspect Urich released from house arrest due to legal difficulties

The Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court orders key Qatargate suspect Jonatan Urich released from house arrest but says he must be accompanied by a guarantor when outside his home until June 1.

Judge Menachem Mizrahi says that there are “difficult legal questions” regarding the case, pointing specifically to the question of whether Urich, a close aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was a civil servant or not while committing the alleged offenses, Channel 13 reports.

Urich is suspected of bribery and breach of trust due to his role advising Netanyahu while, according to the allegations against him, doing paid work to improve Qatar’s image in Israel at the same time.

Only civil servants can be charged with such crimes, however, and Urich was technically working as an adviser to the Likud party, and not as an employee of the Prime Minister’s Office.

Mizrahi adds that evidence regarding the flow of money from Doha has increased, but he takes issue with the claim that Urich was a civil servant. Earlier in the case, Mizrahi appeared to be of opposite mind, and pointed out to Urich’s lawyers that previous court rulings had found that it is the nature of a particular job rather than the formal position that determines for legal purposes if an individual is a civil servant and can be charged with such crimes.

The police have requested that Urich not be released until they decide whether or not to file an appeal against the decision.