The Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court issued on Tuesday a gag order on all information regarding an ongoing investigation into ties between employees of the Prime Minister’s Office and the State of Qatar.
The gag order came at the request of the Israel Police’s Unit of International Crime Investigations, which is a branch of Lahav 433, and will apply for 30 days, until April 10.
The police said in response to a query by Haaretz that “leaks from the investigation could lead to its obstruction.”
The investigation, which was launched at the directive of Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara, began after a series of media reports about alleged commercial ties between members of Netanyahu’s media team and Qatari state actors.
In February, Channel 12 reported that Eli Feldstein – a member of the prime minister’s media team who is currently under house arrest for leaking classified documents to the German newspaper Bild – had provided public relations services to Qataris while working in the PMO.
According to the Channel 12 report, Feldstein was hired by an international company funded by Qatar to promote the country’s image in Israel based on its role in hostage negotiations.
Haaretz in late November reported that two other members of the media team, Yonatan Urich and Srulik Einhorn, had provided public relations services to Qatar ahead of the 2022 World Cup.
Both Urich and Einhorn were also involved in the Bild case. Urich has been interrogated by the police for his role in the leak, and Einhorn, who currently lives in Europe, is wanted for interrogation.
In a video statement on Tuesday afternoon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the accusations a “fake scandal campaign”. The accusations “fill a balloon with hot air, which empties out at the same speed,” he said. Netanyahu announced that he had sued former Chief of Staff and Defense Minister Moshe “Bogi” Ya’alon for allegedly accusing the prime minister of receiving Qatari money himself.
Ya’alon said in response, “I hear that the financier of Hamas intends to sue me … maybe this will be an opportunity to hear his explanation for the suitcases of cash from Qatar to Hamas? Maybe it will be an opportunity to hear his response to three of his close advisors receiving payment from Qatar? Someone is under pressure from the Shin Bet investigation … and the attempt to fire the Shin Bet head and the attorney general stem from this pressure.”
Yair Golan responds to gag order
Democrats chairman Yair Golan wrote on X in response to the gag order, “The concern of the Shin Bet and the police that the Prime Minister’s Office will disrupt the investigation of the Qatari connection with false and manipulative leaks is not only justified but essential and urgent.”
Golan continued, “We all remember the false leak to Bild and the calculated attempt to sabotage the hostage deal. Now, with the serious and worsening suspicion that foreign interests have infiltrated decision-making forums in the midst of a war, there is no room for naivety. It must be assumed that the Prime Minister’s Office is dangerous to the investigation of the truth.”
Golan concluded by calling for an investigation of Netanyahu himself, saying that if the prime minister himself received money from the Qataris, it was a “security offense that cannot be forgiven.”
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