From the Liveblog of
Thursday, February 13, 2025
Democrats chief Golan calls for probe into ties between PM’s office and Qatar: ‘Suspicion of treason’
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Allegations that a senior aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did public relations work for Qatar while on the premier’s payroll indicate that “there is a suspicion of treason in the Prime Minister’s Office that must be investigated,” The Democrats chairman Yair Golan declares.
According to a report aired Monday by Channel 12 news, Eli Feldstein, a former military spokesman for the prime minister, was employed by a Qatar-funded company to improve public perception of Doha around the Gulf country’s role in hostage deal mediation between Israel and Hamas.
Feldstein is also a key suspect in a scandal surrounding the leak of classified IDF documents to and from the Prime Minister’s Office.
Channel 12’s report revealed “apparent evidence of a business, financial, and personal connection between the Prime Minister’s Office and an enemy state before and during the war,” Golan alleges.
“Netanyahu’s closest advisers — people from the most important office in the State of Israel — who allegedly received payments, maintained connections, and did business with the state that funded Hamas,” he says, calling on the Shin Bet security service and Attorney General’s Office to open a criminal investigation for treason.
“Qatar not only financed Hamas – it also provided its senior figures such as Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Mashaal with sanctuary. Qatar is the one that provides political, diplomatic and economic backing to the most murderous terrorist organization that Israel has ever faced,” Golan says.
“This is a clear and immediate danger to Israel’s security.”
According to Channel 12, Feldstein held conversations with several journalists in which he presented Qatar as having a “positive role” in negotiations. It also reported that the Qatar-funded firm that employed Feldstein was working to promote contacts between families of the hostages and authorities in Doha.
Both Feldstein’s attorneys and Netanyahu’s spokesman denied the report.
Two other Netanyahu advisers — Jonatan Urich and Yisrael Einhorn — were reported last year to be involved in a campaign to improve Qatar’s image surrounding hosting the 2022 World Cup.
