The prosecution is reportedly close to slapping national security charges on close aides to the PM over the so-called Qatargate affair

Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara is expected to decide whether to charge two close aides to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged lobbying on Qatar's behalf, local media has reported citing sources.

The so-called Qatargate affair erupted early last year, when Israeli Channel 12 dropped a bombshell investigation alleging that the closest advisors to the PM were paid by Doha to promote Qatari interests to the top security and political authorities in the country. The investigation implicated Yisrael Einhorn, Ofer Golan, Jonatan Urich, and Eli Feldstein, with the latter official already arrested over alleged involvement in the theft and leak of classified documents prior to the publication.

Urich and Feldstein were both detained and questioned last March over the allegations, while Einhorn, who resides in Serbia, refused to return to the country. Golan, a longtime spokesman for Netanyahu, has survived the longest among the implicated officials, departing from his role only this April.

The AG is now expected to decide whether to proceed with the charges against Urich and Feldstein, Israeli media reported on Tuesday. While the Mossad and Shin Bet intelligence agencies have not submitted their assessment on the affair yet, unnamed Justice Ministry officials told Channel 13 there was "sufficient evidence" to charge the suspects over contacts with a foreign actor.

In June, Urich was also indicted over his alleged involvement in leaking classified documents to the press. The charges are related to the leak of IDF military intelligence materials to German tabloid Bild in September 2024 in an apparent effort to reinforce Netanyahu's claims that it was not him but the Hamas militant group that dragged their feet on the deal to release Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

Apart from Netanyahu's aides, the affair could hit Mossad director Roman Gofman, media reports have said. Prior to taking over the agency this June, Gofman served as Netanyahu's military secretary and could have a conflict of interest over his close ties to the suspects. Justice Ministry officials are now reportedly deliberating whether the intelligence chief should be barred from signing off on the impending assessment from his agency.

The Qatargate affair has left a new major dent in the reputation of Netanyahu, who has been facing assorted corruption allegations for over a decade. The ties between his aides and the Qatari government appear to have been quite long-standing, with the implicated officials allegedly helping Doha regain its positions in the Gulf as early as amid the 2017-2021 diplomatic crisis, as well as develop a strategy to improve its reputation ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

(RT.com)