Is Qatargate a scandal too far also for Benjamin Netanyahu? | Benjamin Netanyahu

The leader of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, is not extraneous to the scandal. Over three decades in politics, the 75 -year -old was accused of everything, from excessive public money in ice cream and affected agreements with the media for a favorable coverage to undermine trust in public institutions and the rule of law. In November, the The International Criminal Court announced that he was looking for his arrest For alleged war crimes in the conflict in Gaza.

To date, the Prime Minister has always managed to find a way to cling to power and public support. But also for “King Bibi”, as is known to both supporters and detractors, this was a difficult week, since a new scandal known as Qatarta gets momentum.

On Monday, while Netanyahu was participating in a hearing in his case of corruption at the District Court of Tel Aviv, the Prime Minister was forced to interrupt his testimony to respond to an urgent police call after the arrest of two helpers.

Jonatan Urich, one of the most reliable councilors of Netanyahu, and Eli Feldstein, hired as a spokesperson from the Prime Minister’s office shortly after the discovery of the war, are suspected of taking money from Qatar, channeled through a group of American lobbies, to promote a positive image of the Gulf state in their briefing to journalists. Lawyers for both men refused to comment on the accusations.

It is believed that the goal of the alleged Qatar campaign was to improve the position of Doha among the Israelis, and with the United States, while the interviews of ceased the fire between Hamas and Israel – And to spread negative messages on Egypt, the other leading mediator in negotiations.

The matter deeply shocked the Israeli audience because Qatar is widely seen as a patron in Hamas, hosting the leader of the Palestinian militant group in the capital, Doha. Last year, Israel prohibited the media network financed by the state of Qatari at Jazeera, which is strongly critical of Israeli actions in the conflict.

Doha sent millions of dollars to help the Gaza Strip, facilitated by the Israeli government – but some in Israel claim that Qatar’s money was used to help Hamas prepare for the attack of October 7, 2023 who made the war precipitated.

Netanyahu is not a suspicion in case and has been around investigations as a “political witch hunt”. Qatar denies supporting Hamas, and in a declaration on Thursday he called the statements that paid Israeli political actors in an attempt to influence public opinion “without foundation”.

However, if the accusations are proven, the premier faces serious issues on how a foreign power seen by many as an enemy state has been able to infiltrate the highest levels of the Israeli government.

“It’s a hard blow to the soft belly of Netanyahu,” wrote the editorialist Ravit Hecht in the left -wing inconvenience Israeli Daily Haaretz last week.

“The ties that are questionable with Qatar are added to a strong accumulation of suspicions and scandals, which can validate the sense of disgust perceived by many of the former supporters of Netanyahu after October 7, pushing them a step forward.”

The fact that Netanyahu is afraid of the political damage that Qatarta could inflict is evident in its management of an overlapping scandal: her decision last month to keep a cabinet vote for having fired the director of the Shin Bet, or general security service, Ronen Bar.

It is not a secret that there were long -standing tensions between the Prime Minister and the Head of Security, which was appointed by the short -lived government that extended Netanyahu by the office for 18 months in 2021.

The relationships between them were also stretched before the Hamas attack of 7 October, in particular on the proposed judicial revision proposed by the Netanyahu coalition, which aroused widespread protests and democratic backsliding accusations.

The report further deteriorated after the release of a Shin Bet investigation that recognized the agency’s failures in providing for the Hamas attack on October 7, but also indicating wider political problems in the race.

But the decision of the agency to launch investigations into Netanyahu’s helpers on Qatarta, as well as The loss of classified documents manipulated to foreign mediaAnd the refusal of bar to provide a security evaluation that would allow Netanyahu To avoid appearing in court In his process, he seems to have finally pushed the prime minister to take measures to remove it. Netanyahu claims that there has been a “confidence failure” between the couple.

The transfer to the firebar was suspended from the Supreme Court, Which should take the case on 8 April, but last week, Netanyahu attempted to appoint the former head of the Marina Eli Sharvit as a replacement director, only to revoke the offer in one day, after a repercussions by the Prime Minister’s Likud members by claiming that the candidate was too liberal.

On both fronts, the scandal could still expand. A judge extended the possession of Urich into police custody and Feldstein was released for domestic arrest; Israel is preparing for a constitutional crisis if the Supreme Court prevails over the cabinet’s decision in favor of dismissing the bar.

“Each line has already been crossed … that Netanyahu has survived politically to the massacre of October 7 is an incomprehensible testimony of the fact that Israel in 2025 is a completely lawless place,” said Hecht.

As always, what happens subsequent depends on the formidable instinct of the Prime Minister-and to the talents reduced-for self-preservation.