Investigators from Lahav 433 - The National Crime Unit summoned three political, diplomatic, and military reporters from three different news outlets to provide testimony in the “Qatargate” investigation on Monday, The Jerusalem Post confirmed.
Per Ynet, which first reported on the matter, the testimonies were gathered as supplementary investigative work before a decision is made regarding pre-indictment hearings and indictments themselves.
According to the reports, the three journalists were questioned regarding their working relationships with Eli Feldstein, a former advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and spokesman for the Prime Minister’s Office and a central suspect in the investigation.
The journalists named in the report were Itamar Eichner from Yediot Aharonot, Amir Bohbot from Walla, and Amichai Stein from i24 and The Post.
The three were summoned for open testimony, rather than for an investigation under caution. Other military, political, and diplomatic reporters have been summoned in the past under the same conditions throughout the investigation.
The prosecution refused to comment on the case.
Feldstein was arrested, alongside Yonatan Urich, a senior advisor to Netanyahu, in March 2025 under investigation in what is dubbed the “Bild” case.
The case concerns the alleged illicit leak of classified intelligence on Hamas hostage negotiations from Israeli military channels to the German daily Bild, allegedly to influence the Israeli public debate on the talks.
It also examines whether people around Netanyahu allegedly later tried to manage or obstruct the fallout.
As the investigation progressed, a separate but related case came to light, dubbed Qatargate, which concerns alleged Qatari influence inside Netanyahu’s orbit during the hostage talks – and whether that crossed from political and public relations work into criminal conduct.
The Qatargate case file was transferred to the prosecution back in January for evidence review. Per reports, authorities may be interested in summoning other relevant figures – including senior ones – for testimony before moving forward.
What is 'Qatargate' and why is it a scandal in the Prime Minister's Office?
In the “Qatargate” case, authorities are investigating whether aides in the prime minister’s circle were involved in a campaign to improve Qatar’s image in Israel – and in some accounts to push negative messaging about Egypt – while Doha was serving as a central mediator in hostage talks with Hamas.
Authorities allege that aides received illicit payments from Qatari-linked sources in order to promote this pro-Qatari messaging. Charges under consideration include bribery, contact with a foreign agent, and money laundering.
The main suspects include Feldstein, Urich, and Israel (Srulik) Einhorn, who was an independent advisor to the prime minister and ran the PR company Perception.
Through this company, allegedly, Einhorn, along with Urich and – tangentially – Feldstein, worked to feed journalists information dressed as being provided by intelligence sources that reflected positively on Qatar.
Einhorn is currently in Belgrade, Serbia, serving as an advisor to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. The Israel Police has issued an arrest warrant for him as part of the investigation.
Perception was also hired to promote the FIFA 2022 Qatar World Cup, which faced a public relations controversy over human rights scandals, particularly allegations of poor workers’ rights and anti-LGBTQ policies in the Gulf state.
Sarah Ben-Nun and James Genn contributed to this report.