Police detain, grill 2 suspects as part of probe into Qatari payments to PM’s aides
The pair, described as ‘central figures’ in the case, are reportedly suspected of maintaining contact with a foreign agent and money laundering
Police on Wednesday evening detained two suspects for questioning under caution, as part of an ongoing investigation into whether thousands of dollars were funneled from Qatar to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s aides over the past few months.
The arrests were made hours after the Kan public broadcaster aired recordings in which a Gulf-based Israeli businessman admitted to transferring money from Qatari employed US lobbyist Jay Footlik to Netanyahu aide Eli Feldstein.
Israeli businessman Gil Birger, via a private company, paid Feldstein while the latter was working as Netanyahu’s spokesman, according to Kan News.
Further details regarding the investigation are barred from publication in accordance with a sweeping court-issued gag order that is in effect until April 10.
Police detectives reportedly arrived at the suspects’ homes with search warrants at around 7 p.m. After searching their houses, investigators arrested both suspects.
The two were detained on suspicion of maintaining contact with a foreign agent and money laundering, according to Hebrew media reports, which described the detainees as “central figures” and said each of them gave their version of the sequence of events.
After being grilled, both the suspects were released early Thursday, reportedly under unspecified conditions.
The detention and questioning of the suspects came after publication of the recordings, which Feldstein’s lawyers said proved their client is innocent.
“Since a blanket gag was issued on all details of the investigation that was dubbed Qatargate — and Kan would not have violated the order — it is clear that Feldstein is not a suspect in the affair, and for good reason,” the lawyers said in a statement.
“As claimed from the moment the allegations were first raised, Feldstein never worked for Qatar, never passed information to Qatar, and never received money from Qatar,” the statement read. “Feldstein worked for the Prime Minister’s Office and all of his activity on political and security issues was done solely in the name of, and for, the prime minister.”
According to Channel 12, Feldstein’s lawyers further said that the money Feldstein received from Birger was for services he provided “for the Prime Minister’s Office, and not for Qatar.” They claimed that the payments to their client were a “temporary and partial solution by people in the Prime Minister’s Office,” to an “issue that arose regarding his salary,” but did not specify what the issue was that necessitated payment of Feldstein’s government salary from sources outside the government.
The Channel 12 report also added that the statements from Feldstein’s legal team suggested that the idea to pay Feldstein through the Doha-funded PR firm was initiated by top Netanyahu aide Jonatan Urich, and that their client had no knowledge of the connection between the payments and Qatar. “In other words,” said Channel 12, “Feldstein’s representatives are today shifting the blame to the Prime Minister’s Office, and according to that argument, the Qataris, via American lobbyist Jay Footlik, financed the employment of a military spokesman of the prime minister of Israel during wartime.”
Responding to the mention of his name, lawyers for Urich denied his involvement in the affair and claimed that their client “has no idea who Gil Birger is.”
“Urich is a private consultant who is not a civil servant and is not employed by the Prime Minister’s Office,” his lawyers said, “and in any case he is not in charge of or responsible for employment or human resources matters in the office, so he does not deal with salaries or transfer money to anyone.”
“This is a false and fabricated affair,” Urich’s lawyers asserted, adding that the investigation’s “motives are transparent and known to all.”
Also responding to the Kan recordings, the Prime Minister’s Office said that the report was “more fake news,” and claimed that the PMO “does not ‘arrange’ payments to anyone. Every payment in a government office is made in accordance with the provisions of the law and through authorized entities only. Any other claim is baseless, aimed at breathing life into yet another fabricated affair.”
The probe was launched following revelations that Feldstein — Netanyahu’s former spokesman, who has been charged with harming national security in a case involving the theft and leaking of classified IDF documents — worked for Qatar via an international firm contracted by Doha to feed Israeli journalists pro-Qatar stories, while he was employed in the PMO.
Prosecutors have accused Feldstein of leaking a document to German newspaper Bild in a bid to sway public opinion, which had turned against Netanyahu after the murder in captivity of six Israeli hostages — Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Ori Danino, Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi, Alexander Lobanov and Carmel Gat — in late August.
In November, it was also reported that Urich and fellow Netanyahu aide Yisrael Einhorn did public relations work for Qatar ahead of the 2022 World Cup there. The three are said to be central suspects in the national security case in which Feldstein was charged in November. All deny wrongdoing, as has Netanyahu’s office.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara in late February ordered the opening of the “Qatargate” investigation, which is being conducted by the police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit together with the Shin Bet security agency.
When Netanyahu announced over the weekend his intention to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, opposition and civil society leaders accused the prime minister of doing so in order to thwart the investigation. Netanyahu countered with the claim that the investigation was launched as a means to protect Bar. After the two suspects were detained Wednesday evening, Netanyahu’s office announced that a vote to dismiss Bar would be held Thursday night.
The Times of Israel Community.