From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, January 7, 2026
Court reinstates ban on Urich speaking with PM, working in PM’s office
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleJeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
The Lod-Central District Court reinstates a ban on key Qatargate suspect Jonatan Urich, prohibiting him from speaking to anyone connected to the scandal, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and working in the Prime Minister’s Office, until a further decision on the matter is made.
The Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court ruled on Monday that it could not grant a police request to extend the restrictions in connection to the Qatargate case, since the police filed the request just two hours before the restrictions expired without the response of Urich’s lawyers, meaning the court could not properly review the request before the restrictions expired.
The Lod-Central District Court upholds the lower court decision regarding the police request over the Qatargate case, but says that the restrictions on Urich can be extended for the leaked documents case, in which he is also a suspect — which the police requested on time.
Urich will therefore not be able to speak to Netanyahu — who is not a suspect — or anyone else connected to the case, nor go back to work at the Prime Minister’s Office as he had intended to, nor leave the country.
Netanyahu and Urich spoke by phone yesterday before a hearing on the extention of the restrictions, since they had expired at that point.
The Times of Israel Community.