Demand to open a criminal investigation into the leak of classified materials from the Prime Minister's Office to Qatar

Knesset member Rabbi Gilad Kariv appealed today, Sunday, to the Attorney General, Adv. Gali Baharav-Miara, demanding an immediate criminal investigation following a report in "HaYom" that the Prime Minister's advisors are suspected of leaking classified security information to Qatar.

In his appeal, Kariv wrote that according to the report, which originated from a security source, Prime Minister's advisors Yonatan Urich, Srulik Einhorn, and Eli Feldstein allegedly transferred information directly to Qatari government officials from classified security discussions concerning Egypt. According to the source, the purpose of the leak was to enable Qatar to "incriminate" Egypt, undermine its status as a mediator in the negotiations for the release of the hostages, and expand Qatar's foothold in the talks.

"If the reports are true, this is a very serious escalation in the affair," Kariv wrote, "raising concerns that individuals operating in the Prime Minister's closest circle exploited their access to sensitive security information to leak it to a foreign state."

He added that the severity of the matter is compounded by reports regarding the advisors' financial ties with individuals acting on behalf of Qatar, "raising grave concerns that top-tier security and diplomatic interests were put at risk for the sake of greed — all this during a war and while endangering the lives of Israeli hostages."

Kariv requested that the Attorney General instruct law enforcement agencies to immediately open a criminal investigation regarding the new information, or to examine the suspicions within the framework of the criminal investigation already underway in the affair, which has led to the consideration of indicting some of those involved.

As reported in "HaYom", the new claim changes the picture that had been accepted until now by investigators of the "Qatargate" affair: instead of Qatar passing "incriminating" materials on Egypt to the Prime Minister's advisors to be mediated to journalists, it is now claimed that the information was extracted from classified discussions of the Israeli security establishment, flowed to Qatar, and from there was marketed back to the Israeli media. At the time, the security establishment feared that the smears against Cairo could jeopardize the peace treaty.

Prime Minister's advisors Urich and Einhorn denied the allegations entirely. Urich stated that "this is a complete lie" and that he never attended a classified discussion nor provided information to anyone; Einhorn's attorney stated that his client "was never the Prime Minister's advisor" and that the claim against him is "false, baseless, and completely denied." No response was received from the Prime Minister's Office or from Feldstein's attorney.