Golan calls on Netanyahu to take polygraph test regarding ties to Qatar

By Sam Sokol 17 February 2025, 6:26 pm

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Sam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. 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"

Leader of The Democrats Yair Golan holds a press conference in Tel Aviv, on February 13, 2025 (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

The Democrats party chairman Yair Golan calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take a polygraph test after the Shin Bet security service launched an inquiry into his aides’ alleged ties with Qatar.

The Shin Bet’s confirmation of the inquiry over the weekend came after Hebrew media reported Friday that Eli Feldstein, Netanyahu’s former spokesman, was paid by Doha to feed top Israeli journalists pro-Qatar stories.

“One cannot help but ask, did the prime minister also receive money from Qatar?” Golan tells reporters ahead of his party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset.

“If the prime minister has nothing to hide, and is willing to prove to the Israeli public that his hands are clean of Qatari money, let him take a polygraph test at the Shin Bet on his own initiative,” he states.

“If Netanyahu were concerned about Israel’s security, he would immediately suspend all the advisers who touched Qatari money, distance himself from them, and assure the people of Israel that there are no foreign hands or money dictating his decisions.”