Report: Netanyahu aides led PR campaign to boost Qatar’s image ahead of 2022 World Cup
Haaretz reports that Jonatan Urich and Yisrael Einhorn spearheaded efforts to show Gulf nation does not fund terror, is partner for stability in Middle East; Urich denies report
Two of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s close advisers were reportedly behind a public relations campaign to boost the global image of Qatar ahead of Doha’s hosting of the 2022 soccer World Cup.
The Haaretz daily reported Thursday that Jonatan Urich and Yisrael Einhorn, who were working at their Perception PR company at the time, partnered with another Israeli firm to create a campaign on behalf of Qatar that marketed the Gulf country as a bedrock of peace and stability.
Haaretz said it obtained documents from the PR campaign that included the Perception logo on them. A video promoting Qatar on Einhorn’s YouTube channel was taken down after Haaretz asked Perception for comment on its story.
Urich and Perception denied the Haaretz report, calling it “fake news.”
The report said the campaign’s main goal was to convey the message that Qatar does not fund terror, and that the Gulf state is a partner for negotiations and peace in the Middle East.
The campaign reportedly targeted Diaspora Jews, especially Americans, as well as environmental activists and soccer fans, with the aim of changing global perceptions about Qatar ahead of the World Cup, which at the time were focused on the human rights record and fossil fuel industry that the country is known for.
The campaign aimed to bring Israeli and Jewish journalists and influencers to the stadiums before the tournament, to highlight the efforts made to accommodate Jewish guests, such as kosher food options and places of worship.
At the time, Netanyahu was head of the opposition, but the government was maintaining his policy of courting Qatar to send tens of millions of dollars each month to Gaza’s Hamas terrorist rulers in order to prevent the enclave’s economic collapse.
Since 2018, Qatar has periodically provided millions of dollars in cash, with Israeli cooperation, to pay for fuel for the Strip’s power plant, to pay Hamas’s civil servants and to provide aid to tens of thousands of impoverished families. Intelligence reports put the total funds transferred by Qatar to Hamas at around $2 billion.
While Israel does not have formal diplomatic relations with Qatar, the Gulf state has been a major partner in Israel’s policy regarding the Palestinians for years. Qatar has been a key conduit between Jerusalem and Hamas, especially during the course of the current war in Gaza, where Doha has been the leading mediator in efforts to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal.
Both Urich and Einhorn have been implicated in an ongoing criminal investigation into the leak of stolen classified intelligence to the Bild German daily in order to skew the public debate regarding the hostage negotiations in the public’s favor.
Urich has been questioned by police under caution twice in relation to the case. Hebrew media reports say that after his phone was confiscated when he was first brought in, police found evidence on his phone that led to them calling him in for a second round of questioning.
Urich is reportedly suspected of having instructed former Netanyahu aide and spokesman Eli Feldstein, the main suspect in the case, to send the stolen document to Einhorn who in turn passed it on to Bild. Einhorn, who is currently abroad, is reportedly delaying his return to Israel so as not to be arrested.
Feldstein and an IDF officer were both indicted on Thursday, with Feldstein facing a maximum sentence of life in prison for the charge of harming state security. Urich has not been arrested or charged with any crimes.
