Israel’s attorney general on Friday suspended criminal proceedings against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s associates Yonatan Urich, Ofer Golan and Israel Einhorn in a case involving the alleged harassment of state witness Shlomo Filber, citing the state’s inability to bring Einhorn to Israel for questioning.
The case could be reopened within a year if authorities succeed in locating and extraditing Einhorn, who police have declared a fugitive and for whom an arrest warrant has been issued.
Urich said that “nearly eight years of legal torment and unrestrained persecution ended this morning with one phone call and a document I received on WhatsApp,” adding that “no one will give me or my family back what we went through,” and that “no one will be held accountable” or “draw conclusions.”
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State Witness, Shlomo Filber Credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90
State Witness, Shlomo Filber Credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90Related Articles
Filber, who was allegedly harassed by the three suspects, shared Urich’s remarks on X, writing: “Finally, we can work together without the ‘supervision’ and ‘approval’ of the ‘gatekeepers.'”
Attorneys Amit Hadad and Noa Milstein, representing Urich and Golan, said they had “proved in three courts the serious flaws in the case” and described it as “a witness harassment case in which the witness himself said he was not harassed.” They added that “the failures and misconduct in this case are staggering,” calling it “one of the most embarrassing, negligent and improper cases handled here in recent years,” and said no one would return to their clients “the seven years of legal torment and persecution” they endured.
Last month, prosecutors acknowledged they have been unable to bring Einhorn, a political adviser close to the prime minister, to hearings in the indictment against him over the alleged harassment of Filber. Petah Tikva Magistrate’s Court Judge Dror Klaytman instructed the prosecution to explain within two weeks how it intends to proceed with the case without Einhorn, but the state has repeatedly delayed its response.
Einhorn argued that the indictment was never lawfully served to him and therefore said he had neither appointed a lawyer in the case nor responded to the allegations.
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Attorney General, Gali Baharav-Miara Credit: Tomer Appelbaum
Attorney General, Gali Baharav-Miara Credit: Tomer Appelbaum
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Haaretz reported in February that Serbia is refusing to cooperate with Israeli law enforcement authorities regarding Einhorn. Serbian authorities have ignored Israeli requests to temporarily arrest Einhorn until an extradition request is filed in his case. Several months ago, in an unusual step, a senior official in the international department of the State Prosecutor’s Office was sent to Serbia to persuade her counterpart to cooperate. But a source said that Serbia wouldn’t even hold a substantive discussion with her on the subject.
In February 2025, the State Attorney’s Office filed an indictment against three former affilitates – Ofer Golan, who served as spokesperson for the Netanyahu family and managed Likud’s 2019 election campaign; Yonatan Urich, who served as a strategic adviser and creative director at the party’s campaign headquarters; and Einhorn, who served as Likud’s campaign manager. Einhorn did not appoint an attorney to represent him in the case.
According to the indictment, the three conspired to harass Shlomo Filber, former Communications Ministry director general and pollster, over testimony he had given as a state witness and was expected to give at the prime minister’s trial. They are accused of sending people on their behalf who, on August 29, 2019, parked a vehicle equipped with a public-address system outside Filber’s home.