‘Qatargate’ Probe Leads to Netanyahu Aides Arrested, Netanyahu Questioned
by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Two senior aides to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were arrested Monday over alleged financial ties to the Qatari government. As part of the “Qatargate” probe, the Attorney General has requested Netanyahu submit to questioning. In a video statement, Netanyahu dismissed the investigation as politically driven, claiming his aides are “being held hostage.”
Although the case is under a gag order until April 10th, Israeli media have reported that the two Netanyahu aides arrested are Eli Feldstein and Yonatan Urich, both public relations officials in the Prime Minister’s Office.
In a brief statement, police confirmed that Urich and Feldstein were arrested as suspects in the investigation. After their interrogation, they were taken into custody and are set to appear Tuesday at the Rishon LeZion Magistrate’s Court, where police will seek to extend their detention, according to Hebrew media.
Earlier in March, Feldstein and Urich were questioned on suspicions of bribery, fraud, money laundering, and contact with a foreign agent. Due to a court-imposed gag order, no further details have been released.
After being questioned by police in the Qatargate scandal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video dismissing the investigation as politically driven, claiming his two arrested aides “are being held hostage.”
In the Telegram video, Netanyahu says he immediately cleared his schedule when asked to testify. “The police said they needed four hours, but after an hour, they ran out of questions,” he says.
He adds, “I said ‘Show me something,’ and they did not have anything,” accusing authorities of conducting “a political investigation.”
Referring to his detained aides, Jonatan Urich and Elie Feldstein, Netanyahu says, “I understood that this was a political investigation, but I did not know how much, and that they are holding [them] as hostages.”
He goes on to claim, “It’s a political witch hunt. It’s only for one purpose, to prevent the dismissal of the head of the shinbet, as if there is some affair here. There is nothing. And also to bring down the right-wing prime minister. A political investigation? A political witch hunt? That’s what this is. There is nothing else here.”
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