Police reportedly questioning Likud officials as part of Qatargate probe

Police summoned the Likud party’s director-general Zuri Siso to provide testimony regarding the Qatargate affair around a month ago, the Walla news outlet reports today.

Investigators also reportedly plan to summon Alon Haliva, the deputy director of security in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), to give testimony regarding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s employment of suspects Eli Feldstein, Jonatan Urich and Yisrael Einhorn.

Urich, a close Netanyahu aide, along with the prime minister’s former security spokesman Feldstein, are suspected of being paid to boost Qatar’s image while in his employ. Though they worked for the premier, their status as civil servants is uncertain, since both lacked proper security clearance to qualify as PMO employees.

Only those in the civil service can be charged with the criminal violations of fraud and breach of trust, money laundering, and taking a bribe, of which Urich and Feldstein are suspected. Both are also being investigated for contact with a foreign agent, a crime which can apply to any citizen.

Einhorn, a former Netanyahu aide who now lives in Serbia, is also involved in the affair due to his public relations firm Perception, which he ran alongside Urich. The two spearheaded a pro-Qatari campaign to cast the Gulf state in a positive light ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, hosted in Doha, according to Hebrew media reports at the time.

The judicial inquiry into pro-Qatari American lobbyist Jay Footlik is also scheduled for next week, according to Walla, and is expected to bring investigators and prosecuting attorneys one step closer to deciding whether or not to indict Urich.

Footlik, through his lobbying firm The Third Circle, is suspected of directly financing Urich’s alleged pro-Qatari activities, and indirectly paying Feldstein towards the same end through Gulf-based businessman Gil Birger.