4 days ago
New suspect in Qatargate case, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Poli Mordechai, brought in for questioning
Mordechai is suspected of transferring hundreds of thousands of shekels from his business to Yonatan Urich, the main suspect in the Qatargate case.
IDF Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yoav "Poli" Mordechai was questioned in connection with the "Qatargate" case, Channel 13 News reported on Wednesday.
Mordechai was questioned on suspicion of contact with a foreign agent and accepting bribes.
He is also suspected of transferring hundreds of thousands of shekels from his business to Yonatan Urich, the main suspect in the case, throughout 2024 for a campaign in support of Qatar.
Maj.-Gen. (res.) Mordechai retired from the IDF in 2018 after serving as the coordinator of government activities in the territories and the IDF spokesperson.
He has also played a key role in hostage affairs during the Israel-Hamas War.
He was first summoned to provide open testimony about two months ago, Channel 13 reported.
Mordechai's Company, NOVARD, stated that he had not had any activity with the business since October 7.
'Novard has been working for years with various countries in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East in an official, public, and entirely legal manner. Since October 7, Poli Mordechai has been enlisted for reserve duty to promote the return of hostages. He is not involved in any business activity, and there is a complete separation between Novard's operations in the Middle East and him.'
His business partner in NOVARD was also questioned at Lahav 433 out of caution. Jay Footlik, a US-based Qatari lobbyist, will be openly questioned on Saturday.
The "Qatargate" investigation began in February 2025, when Attorney-General Gali Baharav Miara ordered the Israel Police and the Shin Bet to launch a formal investigation into individuals in the Prime Minister's Office for their ties to Doha.
Footlik notably requested that Israeli businessman Gil Birger assist him in transferring funds to Eli Feldstein, a member of Netanyahu's media team.
Feldstein has been accused of accepting bribes from Qatar, leaking classified documents that harmed the war effort, and reducing the chances of a successful hostage deal. He has also been indicted for endangering national security.
Urich has been accused of feeding Israeli journalists information, through Feldstein, cited as being from intelligence sources, when it really originated in Qatar.
Supposedly, the goal was to boost Qatar's image in the Gaza hostage and ceasefire negotiations, while belittling that of Egypt's as the other mediator. Qatar has denied any such initiative.
Sarah Ben-Nun contributed to this report.
