Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to be questioned again by police as part of the ongoing Qatargate probe, which deals with alleged ties between some of his closest aides and Qatar, Channel 12 reported Monday.
According to the network, police are waiting to issue the summons to Netanyahu until they are given the okay by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.
It said that new material obtained by investigators prompted them to seek another interview with the prime minister.
Netanyahu was already questioned by police in March in connection with the case.
At the time, Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu was questioned as someone with knowledge of the affair, rather than as a suspect. The new questioning is also expected to be of the same nature, the network said. However, a decision could be made to subsequently question Netanyahu under caution as a suspect in the case.
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The Qatargate affair revolves primarily around suspicions that Netanyahu aides Jonatan Urich and Eli Feldstein committed multiple offenses tied to their alleged work for a pro-Qatar lobbying firm, including contact with a foreign agent and a series of corrupt actions involving lobbyists and businessmen, while working for the prime minister.
When questioned in March, Netanyahu said he had no knowledge of Urich and Feldstein’s ties with Qatar.
(L) Jonatan Urich, adviser to Benjamin Netanyahu, in Tel Aviv on October 3, 2022 (Avshalom Sassoni/ Flash90/ File) and (R) Eli Feldstein arrive for a court hearing at the Tel Aviv District Court on March 11, 2025. (Yehoshua Yosef/ Flash90)
Last month, the Kan public broadcaster cited law enforcement officials as estimating that Qatar paid $10 million in recent years to senior Israeli officials, including Feldstein and Urich.
The investigation continues to expand, and the Shin Bet and police are now probing the involvement and business connections of former security officials with Qatar.
Yisrael Einhorn, a former campaign adviser to Netanyahu, and Urich had both spearheaded a pro-Qatari public relations campaign to cast the Gulf state in a positive light ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, hosted in Doha, and reportedly continued their PR work for Qatar well into the Israel-Hamas war that was sparked by the October 7, 2023, onslaught by the Palestinian terror group.
The Israeli public and media were unaware that these pro-Qatar talking points and messages were crafted by Einhorn, who had previously done PR work for Doha, rather than organically by the Prime Minister’s Office, raising concerns about covert foreign influence in public discourse.
Urich and Feldstein were both arrested and questioned for their suspected role in the case, then released. Einhorn, who resides in Serbia, was recently questioned by Israeli investigators in Belgrade after he refused to come to Israel for fear of arrest upon arrival.
Feldstein is already under indictment in a separate case on charges of transmitting classified information, for allegedly having leaked material from a secret document to the German Bild newspaper last year.
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