Report: Netanyahu Aide Urich Told Investigators Qatar Paid Him Hundreds of Thousands of Shekels

Jonatan Urich, a senior aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told investigators he was paid "hundreds of thousands of shekels" for work promoting Qatar's image, Israel's Channel 12 reported on October 19. He also said the project may have continued until mid-to-late 2024.

Much of the questioning turned on when the work ended. Urich first said he could not recall. Asked whether he kept working for Qatar after the October 7 massacre, he answered: "Certainly not in Israel." He later put the end date within two months of the attack, before or after it. Pressed on whether the work ran into mid-2024, he said: "I tend to think mid-to-late 2024." He said his part ended after Srulik Einhorn told him the project was over.

Investigators also asked whether Netanyahu knew his adviser was being paid to promote Qatar, which was home to senior Hamas leaders, while Urich was involved in messaging critical of Qatar inside Israel. "I don't report to the prime minister about things I do. There is a huge difference between what happens abroad and what happens in Israel," Urich said. "As an external adviser, I was never required to make a disclosure. The World Cup project did not prevent me from attacking Qatar from Israel." Asked whether either side knew he was working for the other, he said: "No."

Investigators cited Netanyahu's own testimony that he did not know Urich was working for the Qataris and that there was "no chance" his adviser was taking their money. Urich answered: "That's between me and him." He denied any conflict, pointing to the involvement of reserve Maj. Gen. Poli Mordechai and former Mossad personnel in the project. "I didn't see a conflict here. I don't see a moral problem with it," he said. When investigators said they had evidence he was paid to promote Qatari interests after October 7, he replied: "Not true."

What it means: Less than a week before Israelis go to the polls, this account puts a named Netanyahu adviser, foreign money and Qatar's image work in the same interrogation room. The Prime Minister's testimony, as the investigators described it, is that he knew nothing. Urich's answer is that he never had to tell him. Asked why he did not stop after October 7 or inform Netanyahu, he said: "I don't think I did anything immoral or unprofessional." Israelis will weigh that answer at the ballot box.