Netanyahu advisors placed under house arrest in ‘Qatargate’ scandal

In Israel, as part of the “Qatargate” scandal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s advisors, Jonatan Urich and Eli Feldstein, who were taken into custody, were placed under house arrest until April 22 by the Magistrate Court where they were brought. The court forbade the two from communicating with anyone related to the case, including Netanyahu, for 60 days during the investigation. Additionally, a travel ban was imposed for the next 80 days.

The Israeli police requested the court to extend Urich and Feldstein’s detention period for seven more days, citing the need to deepen the investigation. However, the court limited this request to only a 24-hour extension. Later, it decided on house arrest instead of detention.

In the file dubbed “Qatargate,” the two advisors are accused of working for a pro-Qatar lobby firm, communicating with a foreign agent, and spreading messages favorable to Qatar to journalists in exchange for money. According to the allegations, these activities aimed to strengthen Qatar’s position as a mediator in the hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

Additionally, Eli Feldstein is the main suspect in the scandal involving the leaking of a confidential document belonging to the Prime Minister’s Office. It is alleged that the document contained Hamas’s priorities and tactics in the hostage negotiations, and that the material was leaked to the Germany-based Bild newspaper.

The judge in the case, Menachem Mizrahi, made criticisms regarding the scope of the police interrogations. The judge stated that in recent interrogations, the police focused not only on the Qatar connections but also on the confidential document leak, and that this situation may have exceeded the boundaries of the investigation.

On the other hand, it was claimed that a dispute occurred between Feldstein and Urich, who were taken into joint interrogation yesterday for giving contradictory statements. It was stated that Urich, whom Feldstein accused of lying during the interrogation, started to cry.

Urich’s lawyer, Amit Hadad, claimed that his client experienced chest pain during the police interrogation, that the police did not take this seriously, and that Urich fainted and fell to the ground. The police representative denied this claim and said that Urich did not lose consciousness and was treated in the interrogation room by health teams before the ambulance arrived.

It was also stated that Zvika Klein, the Editor-in-Chief of The Jerusalem Post, who testified as a suspect and was placed under 5 days of house arrest, was interrogated again due to inconsistencies in his initial statement.