Daily Briefing Oct. 20 – A Qatar mole in the PM’s office?
The Times of Israel Daily Briefing podcast covers US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's secret meeting with PM Netanyahu, the Qatargate scandal where aide Jonatan Urich admitted receiving hundreds of thousands of shekels from Qatar, and Benny Gantz's withdrawal from the October 27 election.
The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing podcast for October 20, hosted by Amanda Borschel-Dan with editor David Horovitz, covers three main stories. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly held a secret meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an unannounced visit to Israel on Monday night, a day after President Donald Trump endorsed Netanyahu for another term. Jonatan Urich, a senior aide to Netanyahu and key suspect in the Qatargate scandal, admitted to investigators that he received 'hundreds of thousands of shekels' from Qatar and had no moral qualms working for Doha before and after the October 7 attack, according to Channel 12 citing police interrogation transcripts. Horovitz speculates Qatar may have used Urich as a mole. Benny Gantz announced Monday that his Blue and White party is withdrawing from the October 27 election race, prompting discussion of his political fall and whether other small parties may follow.