Report: Mossad official says he arranged meet with Qatari at request of Netanyahu aides

Jonatan Urich, a senior aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and former Netanyahu adviser Yisrael Einhorn asked to meet senior Qatari official Ali al-Thawadi during the Gaza war, Channel 12 reports, citing testimony and interrogation transcripts.

“Shin,” a senior Mossad official, told investigators, “I arranged the meeting. I arranged it at the request of Urich and Einhorn,” the network reports.

Einhorn and Urich are suspects in the Qatargate affair, which concerns allegations that people employed by the prime minister were simultaneously doing public relations work for Qatar, the longtime host of Hamas’s political leadership.

Urich denied asking to meet Thawadi, saying, “I didn’t ask to meet him. I also don’t know the name you’re telling me,” but acknowledged traveling abroad and said Einhorn had told him to join a meeting.

Investigators also reportedly said Urich had told Thawadi and other Qataris that he was the prime minister’s adviser. Urich denied knowing the men, adding “I think Google knows I’m the prime minister’s adviser.”

When investigators said case materials showed he had met the men, Urich replied, “I don’t know them, certainly not by name,” noting that he may recognize them if he were shown a picture.

Channel 12 reported yesterday that Urich metThawadi at least twice in Europe in July 2024. One meeting was also attended by Einhorn and American lobbyist Jay Footlik, another suspect in the Qatargate affair.