by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] Israel continues to be rocked by the scandal surrounding the leaks of confidential information from the Prime Minister's Office to Qatar (the so-called "Qatargate").
The prosecution argues that the leaks not only exposed Doha to some sensitive Israeli secrets, but also strengthened the position of the Palestinian Hamas, leading to a protracted operation in the Gaza Strip.
It is worth noting that the events surrounding Qatargate have accelerated exponentially.
Over the past few days, there have been "fan" interrogations of all currently known participants in the scandal (including the country's current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ). Several face-to-face confrontations and closed operational activities have also taken place - however, without any clear result.
It is noticeable that all parties to the scandal are tired of litigation and are looking for a way to quickly put an end to the case. However, while some are pressing for legal measures and looking for new defendants, others are trying to get out of the crisis literally "with a fight."
QUEUES FOR INTERROGATION
At first glance, little has changed in the Qatargate investigation. The main defendants remain former employees of the Prime Minister's Office - Eli Feldstein and Yonatan Urich. Law enforcement officials place the main responsibility for leaking classified information to Qatar on them, and they are the only ones in custody.
American lobbyist Jay Futlik, whose firm acted as an intermediary between Doha and the participants of "Qatargate", and Israeli businessman Gil Birger, who acted as an "accountant", are currently being used as witnesses in the case. Although Birger has been placed under house arrest, just in case.
However, this impression is wrong. In fact, the scandal has reached a new level.
There are already more than a dozen defendants in the case waiting to be questioned – politicians, businessmen, journalists and public figures – but the investigation does not yet have the authority to deal with them.
In addition, key figures in "Qatargate" give different testimonies, which further confuses the prosecution. Investigators admit that some participants in the scandal could have been used in the dark and, when transmitting classified information, believed that they were following orders "from above."
As for Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is considered to be almost the key link in this scheme, he is currently separated from the main group of defendants - they are working with him carefully and individually. They are in no hurry to bring forward direct accusations.
However, given that the prime minister's interlocutor is police colonel Momi Meshulam, who previously investigated at least two corruption scandals involving him, the prosecution's hint is quite clear. Netanyahu is being taken seriously again.
At the same time, they are shaking up the journalist pool in search of those through whom additional leaks could have occurred. Over the past few days, the security services have interrogated (and then placed under house arrest) the editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post, Tzvika Klein, and the diplomatic correspondent of Israel Hayom, Shirit Avitan Cohen.
The journalist and columnist Yossi Yehoshua (Yediot Ahronot), who wrote columns based on leaks from the chancellery, was under surveillance. However, his informant Ari Rosenfeld (who is also formally involved in Qatargate), as it turned out later, transmitted information in a distorted form, which made it difficult to bring charges against Yehoshua.
The interrogations are being conducted in a rush and with obvious procedural violations, which is causing criticism not only from Netanyahu's camp, but also from the opposition. The prime minister's parliamentary opponents are asking the intelligence services not to overdo it and to act within the law.
THE MAIN WINNER
Maintaining the constant hype around "Qatargate" are Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and Knesset attorney general Gali Baharav-Miara. Both have fallen out of favor with Netanyahu and are about to leave their posts, and are using their remaining leverage to make the prime minister's office more difficult to operate.
Moreover, the main beneficiary of "Qatargate" is rather Bar. The existence of a scandal of such scale (which he was also previously authorized to investigate) will allow him to nullify the government's decision to resign and remain at the helm of the Shin Bet. And in a more optimistic scenario - to also retain his post after the early elections, in which the triumph of the opposition is increasingly predicted.
Netanyahu pays his opponents back in kind, bringing to light inconvenient facts from their biographies.
For example, he recalled to Bar a series of informal visits to Qatar in 2018, when the head of the Shin Bet visited the country (which he has recently publicly called “hostile”) to provide “some services” and conduct informal negotiations.
Netanyahu also hints that Bar's model of informal negotiations was little different from the one around which today's "Qatargate" is built.
This means that the attempt to blow up a scandal out of Israel's behind-the-scenes work with a potential Arab ally is nothing more than a political witch hunt. Feldstein and Urich's lawyers hold the same position, which significantly strengthens the line of defense. Colleagues in the industry, although they do not voice this publicly, are waiting for an explanation from Bar.
THE WAR DOES NOT STOP
While Netanyahu's opponents wage battles in courtrooms, the prime minister prefers to act "on the ground."
The new Israeli operation in Gaza is gaining momentum and in the south of the enclave has already covered not only the outskirts of the border Rafah, but also the neighboring areas. The prime minister is "directing" the military actions - sometimes personally, and sometimes through the Minister of Defense and the Chief of the General Staff.
Netanyahu does not hide the task facing the troops: to create a new separation corridor in the south of the Gaza Strip, which the authorities have already named the “Morag corridor.”
It will run north of the existing Philadelphi Corridor on the strip's border with Egypt and will separate Rafah from Khan Yunis, creating an expanded security zone in the area.
This, in turn, should weaken Hamas' fighting ability, forcing them to accept all Israeli conditions.
The operation is quite daring and does not guarantee immediate success.
However, while the investigation into Qatargate has reached a dead end, the prime minister is seeking to inflict maximum defeat on Hamas, both militarily and politically, in order to remove from the agenda the thesis about strengthening the position of this movement.
Netanyahu remembers the old folk wisdom well: winners are not judged. Even if the triumphant leader is followed by a trail of controversial decisions and scandals with a spy flair.