Qatargate probe: Police question journalist under caution on suspicion of contact with foreign agent

Police are investigating a journalist as a suspect in the ongoing so-called Qatargate probe concerning illicit ties between the Gulf state and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s senior aides.

The unnamed journalist, who is reported to be close to former Netanyahu spokesman Eli Feldstein, was reportedly questioned earlier today under caution on suspicion of contact with a foreign agent. The police did not issue a statement on the questioning of the journalist.

A police source tells Haaretz that law enforcement obtained the necessary clearance from the State Attorney’s Office to question the suspect, as required for interrogating reporters.

The source adds that an additional reporter who “echoed Qatar’s messages on Feldstein’s behalf” will be summoned for questioning in the coming days.

State prosecutors indicted Feldstein in November on the grave charge of harming state security by leaking classified information to the press.

Feldstein and Netanyahu aide Jonatan Urich are currently in police detention after being arrested earlier this morning, while the premier himself is slated to give testimony later today to investigators from the police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit at his Jerusalem office.