Suspects detained by police in ‘Qatargate’ probe named as PM aides Urich and Feldstein
Feldstein already indicted for leaking stolen classified documents to German media; Urich reportedly did PR work for Gulf state in lead up to 2022 World Cup
Israeli authorities approved on Friday the publication of the names of the two suspects who work for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and were detained for questioning in the ongoing police-Shin Bet investigation into the premier’s office’s ties to Qatar.
The suspects — who were arrested on suspicion of contacting a foreign agent, fraud, money laundering and bribery — were named as Yonatan Urich and Eli Feldstein.
The lifting of a gag order on their identities comes as Netanyahu is seeking to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, who has countered that the move is aimed, in part, at undermining the investigation into what has become known as “Qatargate.”
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.
The investigation was launched following revelations that Feldstein, who was previously a spokesman for Netanyahu, worked for Qatar via an international firm contracted by Doha to feed Israeli journalists pro-Qatar stories while he was employed in the Prime Minister’s Office.
On Wednesday, the Kan public broadcaster published recordings of Israeli businessman Gil Birger saying he funneled funds from a Qatari lobbyist to Feldstein.
Kan noted in its report that, for at least part of Feldstein’s time working for Netanyahu, the aide did not receive any direct salary from the Prime Minister’s Office because he had not passed a security clearance.
Unnamed sources close to Birger and his holding company, cited by Channel 13, claimed that the payments were transferred to Feldstein without the businessman’s knowledge that Feldstein was working in the Prime Minister’s Office.
In the recording, Birger also claims the service performed by Feldstein was related to the hostages. Qatar has been a key mediator between Israel and Hamas.
According to Channel 12, Feldstein’s lawyers 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 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.”
Feldstein has already been indicted for harming national security in a case involving the theft of classified IDF documents and the leaking of one of them to the German daily, Bild. He, Urich and another Netanyahu aide, Yisrael Einhorn, are said to be the central suspects in the national security case in which Feldstein was charged in November. All deny wrongdoing, as has Netanyahu’s office.
The Walla news site reported Wednesday that Feldstein discussed the transfer of the document to Bild with Netanyahu at least twice.
Prosecutors have accused Feldstein of leaking the document 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.
Last November, it was reported that Urich and Einhorn did public relations work for Qatar ahead of the 2022 World Cup there.
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 to thwart the investigation. Netanyahu countered with the claim that the investigation was launched as a means to protect Bar.
A Channel 13 report earlier this month claimed that hundreds of thousands of dollars were funneled from Qatar to various Netanyahu aides, via various intermediaries, including one owned by Urich, who denied being employed by Qatar. Investigators were reportedly surprised by how much money had been transferred.
