Court slaps sweeping gag order on probe of ties between Qatar and top aides in Netanyahu’s office

The Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court issues a sweeping gag order on the investigation being conducted by the police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit into alleged ties between Qatar and officials working in the Prime Minister’s Office.

The gag order, in effect for 30 days, includes publishing any details of the investigation including actions such as the questioning of suspects and the findings of such interrogations.

The court also stipulates that details cannot be published on social media in addition to the press, and that Israeli media cannot quote any details of the investigation published by foreign media, cannot direct media consumers to such reports, or even allude in any way to the details of the investigation.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara ordered an investigation last month into “the connection between officials working in the Prime Minister’s Office and officials connected to the state of Qatar.”

This followed revelations that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s former spokesman Eli 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 top Israeli journalists pro-Qatar stories.