Judge says police twice tried, failed to take PM’s testimony in probe involving chief of staff

Police twice tried and failed to take testimony from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the Bild leak investigation and suspicions his chief of staff tried to interfere in the probe, according to a Lod District Court judge.

Judge Amit Michels made the statement yesterday at a hearing on the extension of restrictive conditions imposed on Jonatan Urich, Netanyahu’s adviser who is implicated in multiple investigations. Per the decision, Urich’s restrictive conditions will last until March 18 at least, forbidding him from leaving the country or contacting Netanyahu and others involved in the case.

The judge said the failed attempts to take testimony from Netanyahu could be chalked up to his busy schedule, particularly amid the current war with Iran.

Urich, a central suspect in the Qatargate affair, is also being probed on suspicions he was involved in the leak of classified information to the German newspaper Bild by Eli Feldstein, Netanyahu’s ex-spokesman, to sway public opinion against a hostage deal with Hamas.

The hearing also concerns a suspected attempt to quash the probe by Netanyahu’s chief of staff Tzachi Braverman, who allegedly told Feldstein he could halt a military investigation into the leak during a meeting in the underground parking lot of the Kirya military headquarters.