Jonatan Urich is seen at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on March 30, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Jonatan Urich, a senior aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reportedly met at least twice during the war in Gaza with a senior Qatari official.
According to a Channel 12 report, Urich — a key suspect in the Qatargate scandal — met at least twice in Europe in July 2024 with Ali al-Thawadi, a Qatari minister considered a close ally of the ruling emir.
One of the meetings was reportedly also attended by Srulik Einhorn and Jay Footlik, who are both also implicated in the Qatargate affair. An arrest warrant has been issued for both Einhorn and Footlik, a US citizen, but they have not set foot in Israel since.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls Qatar’s prime minister to apologize for Israel’s strike targeting Hamas leaders in Doha, as senior Qatari official Ali al-Thawadi looks on behind US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on September 29, 2025. (White House)
Channel 12 publishes a purported transcript of Urich’s questioning by police in May 2025 where he admitted to the meetings in question, but said he was hazy on the details and could not recall if they took place in London, Paris or Berlin.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Qatar speaks during an emergency Security Council meeting at UN Headquarters in New York on September 11, 2025. Meeting was called on strike by Israel at a flat in the building where Hamas members were. Before the meeting Council issued a Press Statement expressing concern but did not name Israel by name and underlined once again for hostages in Hamas captivity to be released and war to be ended. (Photo by Lev Radin/Sipa USA)
Urich is a key suspect in the so-called Qatargate affair, which concerns allegations that Netanyahu’s advisers did public relations work for Qatar while they were employed by the Prime Minister’s Office, including by placing pro-Qatar stories in the media. Urich also faces charges in connection with a 2024 leak of classified documents.
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