Netanyahu adviser Jonatan Urich admits working for Qatar after October 7, report says

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's adviser Jonatan Urich admitted during police questioning that he continued working with Qatari figures until mid-to-late 2024, months after the October 7 massacre, according to a report aired Monday evening by Channel 12. During questioning by Lahav 433, Israel's national police investigations unit, Urich was asked about efforts to improve Qatar's image in Israel, payments he received for his work and whether Netanyahu knew he was employed by Qatari figures. The reported testimony raises further questions about the relationship between the prime minister's adviser and the Gulf state during the war. According to Channel 12, Urich initially claimed he could not remember exactly when his work for Qatar had ended. When asked whether he continued working after October 7, he replied, "Certainly, not in Israel." He said he stopped working on the project only after Netanyahu's former adviser Israel Einhorn, who has been described as a fugitive from justice, informed him that it had ended. Asked whether he had informed Netanyahu about the work, Urich said: "I don't report to the prime minister about things I do. There is an enormous difference between what happens abroad and what happens in Israel. As an external adviser, I was never required to make disclosures. The World Cup project did not prevent me from criticizing Qatar from Israel." Netanyahu previously testified that he had no knowledge of any connection between Qatar and his adviser. However, it emerged that Urich had used ChatGPT in September 2024 in an attempt to develop a strategic plan to improve Qatar's public image, including drafting messages aimed at Israelis, Jewish communities worldwide and influential figures in the United States. Despite those revelations, Urich has denied carrying out activities intended to promote Qatar within Israel. The reported questioning highlights the distinction he sought to draw between his work involving Qatar abroad and his activities as an adviser to Netanyahu, as investigators examined the nature of the relationship, the payments involved and what the prime minister knew.