Exposure: Urich admitted in interrogation that he met with a Qatari official in Europe during the war
Jonathan Urich, an adviser to the prime minister, admitted in a police interrogation that he met in Europe with Ali Al-Thawadi, an associate of the Emir of Qatar, during the war. The meetings, which were also attended by lobbyist Jay Footlik, took place after October 7. Urich had difficulty remembering details and claimed he does not remember where the meetings were held or what happened in them.
Jonathan Urich, a close adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, admitted in a police interrogation that he met in Europe with Ali Al-Thawadi, an associate of the Emir of Qatar, during the war. The meetings, which took place after the October 7 attack, also included lobbyist Jay Footlik and a former senior Mossad official known as 'Sh'. In the Lahav 433 investigation on May 19, 2025, investigators confronted Urich with testimony that he participated in at least two meetings in which he presented ideas to the Qatari official. Urich struggled to provide clear answers: he claimed he does not remember where the meetings were held (London, Paris or Germany) and said he 'barely remembers one'. When asked if the witness was lying, he answered in the negative. The new revelations are part of the 'Qatargate' affair, which was exposed two days earlier when it was published that Urich asked ChatGPT to formulate a plan to improve Qatar's image in Israel. Urich denied in the interrogation that he acted to promote Qatar, but confirmed the existence of the meetings.