All legal restrictions against 'Qatargate' suspect Yonatan Urich have been lifted by the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.
This means he can now meet again with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Judge Mizrahi sharply criticized the police, writing that in his view, Urich is not a state employee and therefore cannot be suspected of bribery.
“Indeed, the suspect poured water for the prime minister, but such closeness is not enough to bring him into the criminal sphere under the offenses for which he was suspected,” he wrote.
“The applicant’s central thesis is stated in all the classified reports, and it collapses from within. The claim is that the connection between the suspect and the State of Qatar was formed in order to provide it with positive public relations services, and that this was the suspect’s intention. In this way, it contradicts the claim of intent to harm state security, was the intention to promote or the intention to harm state security?” he concluded.
Mizrahi cited Netanyahu's open testimony in the case, noting that the prime minister defined Urich as a political adviser.
"He said the suspect had been the spokesman for the Likud party, and also served as his spokesman, being part of the communications apparatus, but he did not receive a salary from the state, only from the party,” he said.
"He did not enter classified discussions and emphasized that the suspect was certainly allowed to do independent work.”
Judge Mizrahi reiterated the question posed to the prime minister, whether he was aware that the suspect had worked with the State of Qatar, and the prime minister replied in the negative. He added that even if this were the case, “there is nothing wrong with it; many people work with many countries. Qatar is not an enemy state.” In his questioning, the prime minister further stated that since the suspect is not a public employee and he did not consider him as such, “he can work wherever he wants.”
At the end of his ruling, Judge Mizrahi sharply criticized the police for refusing to present him with all the investigation materials.
“On a side note, though not of minor importance: before delivering the decision, I requested that the investigating unit present me with all the investigation material, and unfortunately, I was met with a refusal,” he said.
“Never have I encountered such a response from an investigating unit, and this alone could have sufficed to reject the request, because anyone who wants the court to grant their request should respectfully provide all the evidence they claim supports it. In the end, after the hearing concluded, the investigating unit relented and presented the investigation materials for review," he added.
Police requested to extend ban on contact
Earlier this week, the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court discussed the police request to extend the ban on contact between Urich and Netanyahu, as well as other individuals involved in the 'Qatargate' affair and the leak of documents to the German newspaper Bild.
The restrictive conditions imposed on Urich had expired, and police sought to extend them by another month.
Urich is suspected in the 'Qatargate' case of offenses including contact with a foreign agent, passing classified information, accepting bribes, and fraud and breach of trust. The investigation is ongoing.
He is also suspected in the Bild document leak case, in which Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara has announced her intention to file an indictment against him, pending a hearing expected in the coming weeks. Police argue that extending the contact ban is necessary to prevent obstruction.
Urich was questioned under caution in November over suspected involvement in the affair and was released under restrictive conditions. In parallel, police investigated suspicions that the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff, Tzachi Braverman, acted to alter protocols from the early days of the war.
This probe began following a letter from former Military Secretary Maj. Gen. Avi Gil to the Attorney General, alleging that changes had been made to charts, attendance records, and protocols.
The classified documents affair involves allegations that a highly sensitive and top-secret document was unlawfully taken from the IDF’s intelligence system. According to the court, the document’s disclosure “could have harmed the achievement of one of the war’s objectives, the release of hostages, as well as the operational activities of the IDF and Shin Bet in the Gaza Strip against Hamas.”