Netanyahu aides under investigation are free to work with PM after release conditions end

Almost all restrictive release conditions on Jonatan Urich, a senior aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, were lifted on Sunday, and he was able to contact and work with the premier after being barred from doing so for a year.

Urich is a key suspect in the Bild leaked documents scandal and the Qatargate affair.

The decision by the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court to end the restrictions on Urich came after an agreement between his attorneys and the police that was approved by the court.

A ban on Urich leaving the country remained in place, and he was still barred from speaking about the investigations with Netanyahu or anyone else connected to the two cases.

Urich expressed joy upon the cancellation of his restrictions, posting excerpts from Jewish prayers in a post on X.

“We’re coming back in full force,” he added enthusiastically. “Bibi, be available. I’m on my way!!!”

Netanyahu spoke with Urich shortly after the restrictions were lifted, according to Ynet news.

Urich, along with former Netanyahu spokesman Eli Feldstein and ex-campaign adviser Yisrael Einhorn, is accused of taking money to spearhead a public relations campaign to cast Qatar in a positive light for over a year after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, despite the Gulf state’s backing for the terror group, all while working in the PMO.

Urich is suspected of contact with a foreign agent, bribery, fraud and breach of trust, and money laundering.

Additionally, police decided on Sunday not to appeal a decision by the same court to cancel the restriction on Tzachi Braverman — Netanyahu’s chief of staff, who is suspected of interfering in an investigation connected to the Bild leaked documents affair — from contacting Netanyahu.

As with Urich, Netanyahu reportedly spoke with Braverman following police’s decision.

Braverman is, however, forbidden from discussing the case with the prime minister or contacting anyone else involved in it.

The Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court ruled on Thursday against extending the restrictions, and the police decided Sunday not to appeal the decision.

Braverman has been barred from contacting Netanyahu or going to the Prime Minister’s Office since January 11, when he was first arrested and questioned over the allegations that he said he could quash an investigation into the leaked documents affair.

He allegedly set up a nighttime meeting in the underground parking lot of the IDF’s Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv with Feldstein in October 2024. During the meeting, Feldstein alleged that Braverman told him he was aware of what should have been a secret IDF investigation into Feldstein’s leak of classified intelligence to the German newspaper Bild, which Braverman said he could stop.