The decision to recruit Eli Feldstein to the Prime Minister’s Office was made by Yonatan Urich. In the second week of October 2023, Benjamin Netanyahu had slightly more urgent matters on his mind than hiring an assistant spokesman. But the general direction was clear: someone who would speak with the military correspondents through a semi-official channel, based on the assumption that if there is 100 percent responsibility for the failure, then the larger the share that falls on the chief of staff’s shoulders, the less will weigh on the prime minister’s.
Feldstein was, ostensibly, the perfect candidate: well-connected in the IDF, with astonishing familiarity with the internal politics of the senior officer corps, knowing exactly where the information caches were hidden that would continue to trouble the chief of staff for a long time. It was no accident that senior General Staff officials were alarmed when they heard of his appointment.
Journalists not knowing until the affair exploded that they were being fed Qatari messages is one thing. No less intriguing is the fact that deep into the war, many of us did not know that Feldstein was working for the Prime Minister’s Office at all. The employment arrangement was crooked in substance and defective in its paperwork.
Urich paid the full price for this employment. After several days of shifting explanations, he produced a shocking version: the money I received in the chain from Qatar was a substitute for payment from the Prime Minister’s Office, with Urich’s knowledge. That was the moment the affair threatened to shake Netanyahu’s position. After all, if his ties with Qatar are so close that it functions as his petty cash fund, the implication is that fanatic messaging is influencing national security inside the Prime Minister’s Office.
That version collapsed long ago and finally died this week with the publication of Feldstein’s correspondence by Avishai Grinzaig. This was not a fictitious employment by Netanyahu but a deal between the adviser and Qatar: money in exchange for PR. The question is Urich’s knowledge. The entire argument that he was “in the loop” inside the office (not during the 2022 World Cup) rests on a single refined phrase — “shitting cubes” — which he used in response to a text from Feldstein containing a briefing that helped Qatar. The slang term means something approximating “ok, got it”. More will be required to tie him to the dark deal. He will also be required to explain, in parallel, whether he worked for Qatar abroad during the war as alleged — a claim his associates deny.
The most fascinating figure in the affair is Urich, not Feldstein. He is the adviser behind the move that turned Netanyahu, in the eyes of his voters, into the leader of a movement, and he is signed onto a record of six election campaigns with thirty mandates or more. Urich exits them with three indictments, in what appears to be targeted treatment by law enforcement: the Filber harassment affair, the Bild leak, and Qatargate. These proceedings will conclude in the mid-2030s, while in the meantime he is barred from contact with Netanyahu and can at most work within the Likud. Does anyone know a way to run a prime-ministerial candidate by telepathy?
His temporary departure coincides with Ron Dermer’s permanent exit. When people talk about Netanyahu’s inner circle, these two were the environment: one handled the diplomatic flank for the prime minister, the other the communications front. Netanyahu is entering a year of diplomatic decisions and a political election year without either of them. One is in business, not answering the phone; the other is under investigation, unable to call.
This is an excerpt from my weekly column in Israel Hayom.
