IDF Maj.-Gen. (res.) Poli Mordechai, 61, was suspended on Sunday by Israel Police from involvement in Gaza hostage and ceasefire negotiations for a period of two weeks.
The decision was made over the weekend, after Mordechai had been investigated by authorities last week during the “Qatargate” investigations. He said, on Sunday, “In all my years of service, I always followed the law to the letter and devoted myself to the State of Israel. So too, in this case – even though everything was transparent, I will aid authorities to reach the whole truth, which will prove my integrity.”
When Mordechai was questioned in the context of the Qatargate investigations last month, it was on suspicion of contact with a foreign agent and bribery. The military, in a rare statement, said at the time that Mordechai was “beholden to the Hostages Management Unit, and does not engage in direct negotiations with the mediators. Nevertheless, his contributions are significant, sometimes even critical. Throughout the process, his professional stances have been brave and honest.”
Mordechai serves in a senior role in the government’s Hostages Management Unit under IDF Maj.-Gen. Nitzan Alon, a unit established to consolidate into a single entity all state efforts regarding hostages, missing persons, and returnees.
The Qatargate investigations concern Qatari influences on and ties to figures close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a time when the Gulf state serves as one of the chief negotiators between Israel and Hamas to free the 50 hostages that the terror group continues to hold as bargaining chips and bring to an end to the war. Authorities are investigating what acts, if any, were carried out at the direction of Qatar, especially given the state’s history as a regional sponsor of terrorism.
Netanyahu himself has said that Qatar is “not an enemy state.” The investigations began nearly a year ago with the arrest of Eli Feldstein, a former military spokesman in the Prime Minister’s Office, for leaking classified military documents to the German tabloid Bild, after they failed publication by the military censor.
When the materials were published and eventually made their way back to the Israeli media landscape, it was allegedly done with the goal of swaying public opinion on hostage negotiations. This was around August 2024, when six hostages were killed by their Hamas captors in a tunnel: Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Almog Sarusi, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Carmel Gat, and Alex Lobanov.
Ties between Qatar and Netanyahu
THE INVESTIGATIONS quickly ballooned, and other figures were called in for questioning and apprehended. Police have investigated Netanyahu adviser Yonatan Urich – who is currently under restrictive detention conditions – and aide Israel Einhorn, who resides in Serbia. Both are suspected of receiving large sums of money to pull the reins on the broader operation to boost Qatar’s image, and, specifically, when it came to hostage mediation, to undermine the role of Egypt. Qatar has denied all such claims.
Mordechai is also suspected of transferring hundreds of thousands of shekels from his business to Urich throughout 2024 for a Qatari campaign. He previously served as the head of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) – the military unit responsible for civilian affairs in the Gaza Strip and West Bank – and as the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit.
Reports noted that when Mordechai finished his military service about seven years ago, he joined the fledgling Novard company, which says it connects global businesses with emerging markets in the Middle East, including Israel. An unnamed former Mossad official, who was also investigated in connection with the Qatargate case, was also a partner in Novard, reports added.
Part of what Mordechai was allegedly investigated for last month was involvement surrounding the 2022 World Cup, which Qatar hosted. Allegedly, the Gulf state commissioned a public relations campaign to boost its image around the event. Allegedly, because Israel and Qatar don’t have official diplomatic relations, an external company was used as a middleman to close the business deals through and between Novrad and Qatar.
This was allegedly carried out in cooperation with the Third Circle, a company headed by American pro-Qatar lobbyist Jay Footlik. It is in this context that the alleged payments to Urich were made; in addition to the connection between Einhorn, his company, Perception – at the heart of the investigations – and the Qataris.
Amichai Stein contributed to this report.