Ex-PM accuses Netanyahu of involvement in cover-up

Bennett: Qatargate is ‘most serious act of treason’ in Israeli history, PM must resign

Opposition leaders echo former premier’s words, after news report sheds light on Netanyahu aides’ alleged work for Qatar while in Israeli premier’s employ

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign on Monday, accusing him of engaging in the cover-up of the Qatargate affair, which Bennett called “the most serious act of treason in Israeli history.”

The statement from Bennett, who is running against Netanyahu in next year’s election, follows new revelations about the scandal. The affair involves allegations that top aides to the prime minister were acting as paid lobbyists for Qatar, where Hamas’s leadership is based, while simultaneously working for Netanyahu.

On Sunday, i24 News reported that communication between the suspects showed they had fabricated information, and worked with a reporter for a pro-Netanyahu outlet to change the text of one of his pieces to accord with their messages.

“Netanyahu’s office betrayed the State of Israel and IDF soldiers during wartime and acted on behalf of Qatar for financial gain, and Netanyahu himself is covering it up,” Bennett declared in a statement following the report. “Whether Netanyahu knew or did not know that his office was working for the enemy in a time of war, both possibilities require his immediate resignation.”

Bennett pledged to establish a state commission of inquiry “that will also investigate aid to an enemy state in a time of war” if he is elected to lead the next government.

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 politically appointed inquiry into the attack.

Bennett’s criticism was echoed by other opponents of Netanyahu, who has testified in the Qatargate probe and decried it as a “witch hunt.”

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.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid called the scandal “the most serious treason affair in the history of the country,” while the chairman of The Democrats, Yair Golan, wrote on X that “Netanyahu’s office betrayed the country’s security in the Qatar affair, and Netanyahu must be fully investigated over it.”

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’s employ.

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’s image in Israel.

On Sunday, i24 News reported that further correspondence between the suspects showed that they had shared fabricated information attributed to “senior security officials” and “senior American officials” that played up Qatar’s role in negotiations with Hamas while attempting to sideline Egypt, another mediator of ceasefire talks in the Gaza war.

The network also reported that the staffers worked together with a reporter from the pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 to “refine” the text of his story based on their messaging.

“Three of Netanyahu’s 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,” Bennett said, adding that this “can certainly explain why the Israeli government failed in the ultimate goal it set for itself in the war: the destruction of Hamas.”

He accused Netanyahu’s staff of aiding Israel’s enemies.

“Qatar’s declared goal is Hamas’s survival. Israel’s declared war goal is the destruction of Hamas. They chose sides. Instead of acting for Israel, they acted for Israel’s enemies,” Bennett continued, accusing Netanyahu’s office of working “tirelessly to malign Egypt, which is anti-Hamas, and whitewash Qatar, which is pro-Hamas.”

This harmed national security even if the staffers are not guilty on a legal level, he added, saying that “from a security and ethical perspective,” their behavior is “a betrayal of our soldiers.”