It’s Too Early to Know How Deep Qatargate Goes, but It’s Time to Ask Tough Questions

Expanding Investigation Suggests That Israeli Decisions on Hostage Talks, Relations With Egypt Could Have Been Influenced by Doha

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It remains unclear exactly how far Doha’s alleged infiltration of Israel’s centers of power goes.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists that the entire Qatargate affair reaches deep into the Israeli state — not to his own hierarchy, however, but to a powerful unelected left-wing bureaucracy that he calls the “deep state,” using a term he openly borrowed from US President Donald Trump.

According to the Qatargate case’s judge, two Netanyahu advisers — Jonatan Urich and Eli Feldstein — are suspected of taking money to spread pro-Qatari messaging to reporters, in order to boost the Gulf state’s image as a mediator in hostage talks between Israel and Hamas, all while in the prime minister’s employ.

Judge Menachem Mizrahi said that Qatar also wanted Feldstein to spread negative messaging about Egypt’s role in the negotiations.

Police believe that Urich — while spreading pro-Qatar messaging — framed the information as having originated from senior Israeli officials in the Prime Minister’s Office.

Read the full article at the Times of Israel.

Lazar Berman is the diplomatic correspondent at the Times of Israel, where he also covers Christian Affairs. He holds an M.A. in Security Studies from Georgetown University and taught at Salahuddin University in Iraqi Kurdistan. Berman is a reserve captain in the IDF’s Commando Brigade and served in a Bedouin unit during his active service.
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