The former prime minister, like other Netanyahu critics, has demanded a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack. Netanyahu has rejected those calls, which polls show are backed by most Israelis, and is instead proceeding with an unorthodox effort to establish a government-led inquiry into the attack.<\/p>\n
\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/FotoJet-37-e1743408247975.jpg\")
\n\t\t(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)<\/p>\n
Bennett\u2019s criticism was echoed by other opponents of Netanyahu, who has testified in the Qatargate probe and decried it as a \u201cwitch hunt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Avigdor Liberman, chair of the hawkish Yisrael Beytenu party, called for a state commission of inquiry to examine the October 7 attack, and said that the scope of the investigation should also include Qatargate.<\/p>\n
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid called the scandal \u201cthe most serious treason affair in the history of the country,\u201d while the chairman of The Democrats, Yair Golan, wrote on X that \u201cNetanyahu\u2019s office betrayed the country\u2019s security in the Qatar affair, and Netanyahu must be fully investigated over it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The suspects, close Netanyahu aide Jonatan Urich and former spokesman Eli Feldstein, are alleged to have worked for a pro-Qatar lobbying firm, to have had contact with a foreign agent, and to have committed a series of corruption offenses involving lobbyists and businessmen, while in the premier\u2019s employ.<\/p>\n
WhatsApp messages obtained by the Ynet news site in August revealed that former Netanyahu campaign adviser Yisrael Einhorn had crafted pro-Qatar messages and sent them via WhatsApp to Feldstein. Feldstein then forwarded the messages to Urich, who disseminated the messaging to journalists, in an effort to improve Doha\u2019s image in Israel.<\/p>\n
\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/F250403AVS06.jpg\")
\n\t\tEli Feldstein\u2019s attorney Oded Savoray (left), Jonatan Urich\u2019s attorney Amit Hadad (center) and other attorneys attend a court hearing at which police asked to extend the remand of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s aides Urich and Feldstein amid the ongoing Qatargate investigation, at the Rishon LeZion Magistrate\u2019s Court, April 3, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni\/Flash90)<\/p>\n
On Sunday, i24 News reported that further correspondence between the suspects showed that they had shared fabricated information attributed to \u201csenior security officials\u201d and \u201csenior American officials\u201d that played up Qatar\u2019s role in negotiations with Hamas while attempting to sideline Egypt, another mediator of ceasefire talks in the Gaza war.<\/p>\n
The network also reported that the staffers worked together with a reporter from the pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 to \u201crefine\u201d the text of his story based on their messaging.<\/p>\n
\u201cThree of Netanyahu\u2019s closest advisers were in effect paid agents of Qatar and Hamas at the height of the war, while our soldiers were fighting and being killed by Hamas bullets purchased with Qatari money,\u201d Bennett said, adding that this \u201ccan certainly explain why the Israeli government failed in the ultimate goal it set for itself in the war: the destruction of Hamas.\u201d<\/p>\n
He accused Netanyahu\u2019s staff of aiding Israel\u2019s enemies.<\/p>\n
\u201cQatar\u2019s declared goal is Hamas\u2019s survival. Israel\u2019s declared war goal is the destruction of Hamas. They chose sides. Instead of acting for Israel, they acted for Israel\u2019s enemies,\u201d Bennett continued, accusing Netanyahu\u2019s office of working \u201ctirelessly to malign Egypt, which is anti-Hamas, and whitewash Qatar, which is pro-Hamas.\u201d<\/p>\n
This harmed national security even if the staffers are not guilty on a legal level, he added, saying that \u201cfrom a security and ethical perspective,\u201d their behavior is \u201ca betrayal of our soldiers.\u201d<\/p>\n
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