Judge rules Qatargate restrictions on Urich expired after police missed deadline

In a filing submitted to the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court, Urich’s attorneys opposed the police request to extend the conditions after they had already expired, contending that once the restrictions lapsed, they could not be revived retroactively.

Despite the transfer, police sought an additional 60-day extension of the restrictive measures imposed on Urich, including a reporting requirement, a prohibition on contacting individuals connected to the case – among them officials in the Prime Minister’s Office – and a ban on leaving Israel.

Magistrate’s Court Chief Justice Menahem Mizrahi sharply criticized the timing of the request, which was submitted only hours before the restrictions were set to expire. He said the late filing prevented proper judicial consideration and required the court to examine whether police were authorized to seek the extension at that stage, and whether prosecutorial approval was required.

In a written decision issued Monday, Mizrahi ruled that the court lacks legal authority to extend the restrictive conditions related to the Qatargate investigation, finding that police failed to file their request “within the period of bail,” as required by law. As a result, he held that the conditions had expired and were void as a matter of law.

Mizrahi rejected the argument that the court could maintain the restrictions “until a decision is issued” or “until a hearing is held,” stressing that a court cannot create jurisdiction where none exists. Citing Supreme Court precedent, he ruled that once the statutory period lapses without a timely request and hearing, the conditions are lifted automatically, without any action required by the suspect.

In their filing, Urich’s attorneys argued that under criminal procedural law, courts may extend restrictive conditions only while they remain in force. Once that period ends, they said, the court’s authority lapses.

The court adopted this position in full, concluding that police conduct – including the late filing – deprived it of authority to rule on the request at all.

Mizrahi emphasized that the ruling does not reflect any determination regarding reasonable suspicion, prosecutorial discretion, or the state’s ability to pursue indictments or order investigative completions.

The Qatargate investigation grew out of inquiries into a separate affair involving the alleged leak of classified military documents to the German tabloid Bild in September 2024, in what authorities have described as an effort to influence public discourse surrounding Hamas’s stance on hostage negotiations, shortly after six Israeli hostages were murdered by the terror group.

As investigators examined the circumstances of that leak, authorities said they uncovered indications of separate improper contacts involving Netanyahu’s close advisers, forming the basis for the broader probe.

The investigation, conducted by the Lahav 433 National Crime Unit with the involvement of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), centers on alleged advisory and financial ties between figures in Netanyahu’s political circle and Qatar, a country that has supported Hamas for years while also serving as a key mediator in the Israel-Hamas War.

Importantly, Mizrahi distinguished between the Qatargate investigation and the separate Bild affair, ruling that the expiration applied only to the former. He noted that the restrictive conditions imposed in the Bild case were ordered later by the District Court, and that the statutory period governing those conditions has not yet elapsed.

A hearing on the police request to extend the restrictive measures in the Bild affair has been scheduled for January 15.

According to police documents, Urich is suspected of offenses including assistance to a foreign agent, disclosure of classified information, acceptance of a bribe, money laundering through failure to report, and fraud and breach of trust. No prosecutorial decision has yet been made.