What we know about Qatargate scandal surrounding Netanyahu government By Heloise Vyas and wires Topic:World Politics 34 minutes ago https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-03/what-is-the-qatargate-scandal-gripping-israel/105131640 Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed the Qatari bribe allegations against his associates as a witch hunt. (AP: Leo Correa) In short: Two of Benjamin Netanyahu's senior advisors are under investigation for allegedly accepting payments from Qatar to promote its interests in Israel. The Israeli PM has not been implicated but analysts say the controversy links him "directly" to an appeasement of Hamas, which is backed by Qatar. What's next? Israel's domestic spy agency and police are continuing their investigation. Israel has been gripped by allegations linking aides of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to financing from Qatar, which hosts Hamas leaders and helped broker the release of hostages from Gaza. Dubbed "Qatargate" by Israeli media, the reports that sparked an investigation claimed some of the people closest to Mr Netanyahu had been recruited to promote Qatar's interests in Israel. The two countries have no formal diplomatic ties, but the Israeli PM on Wednesday insisted Qatar was "not an enemy state" in defence of his aides. Some details remain unclear, with an investigation led by Israeli police and Shin Bet, the domestic spy agency, ongoing. Here's what we know so far. What is Qatargate? At least two of Mr Netanyahu's associates — Yonatan Urich and Eli Feldstein — are suspected of receiving payments from the Qatari government to promote Doha's interests in Israel. Allegations of ties between members of Mr Netanyahu's close circle and the Qatari government have swirled in the Israeli press since mid-2024. Photo shows Benjamin Netanyahu gestures while addressing reporters from behind a lectern. Protesters are camped outside the house of the Israeli prime minister and he has taken the country back into war, but these are not the only major issues the country's longest-serving leader must deal with. The affair ramped up on Monday when Mr Urich and Mr Feldstein were arrested and Mr Netanyahu was called in for questioning in a probe he slammed as a "political witch hunt". "They are holding Yonatan Urich and Eli Feldstein hostage," he said in a video post after being questioned. The prime minister has not been implicated himself, but he is separately on trial over corruption and breach of trust allegations. Mr Urich and Mr Feldstein, who no longer works for Mr Netanyahu, are suspected of having taken money from Qatar to distribute pro-Qatari messaging to Israeli media outlets during Gaza ceasefire negotiations, which Qatar helped mediate. According to court documents seen by CNN, prosecutors allege the pair "worked to transfer messages to journalists in a manner that presented sympathetic articles about Qatar in the media, minimising Egypt's role as a fair mediator in the deal, while dictating the media agenda". They face charges including contact with a foreign agent, bribery, money laundering, breach of trust and fraud, as detailed by Judge Menachem Mizrahi at a hearing in Rishon Lezion Magistrate's Court on Tuesday after he lifted a gag order on the case. Who are the suspects in Qatargate? Yonatan Urich has been working closely with Mr Netanyahu for most of the past decade since starting out as the social media manager for the prime minister's Likud party. He also co-owns a media consulting firm called Perception with Yisrael Einhorn, who has also worked with Mr Netanyahu. According to Israeli media reports, Perception was hired to improve Qatar's image ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, claims Mr Urich and the firm denied at the time. Eli Feldstein is already under investigation for leaking classified documents to journalists during the short time he worked unofficially as the prime minister's military affairs spokesman. According to reports, Mr Netanyahu was seeking to offer Mr Feldstein a more permanent role but after failing to receive the necessary security clearance, he remained an external contractor. Anti-government demonstrators take part in a protest against the Qatargate affair outside the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem on Monday. (AFP: Menahem Kahana) Last month, an investigation by Israel's Channel 12 alleged that while working for Mr Netanyahu, Mr Feldstein received a salary from Jay Footlik, a known US lobbyist for Qatar. Further reports on Monday said Mr Feldstein promoted Qatar to Israeli journalists and arranged trips for them to Doha. Mr Footlik owns a consulting firm, Third Circle Inc, registered under the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) as working for Qatar. An Israeli court on Tuesday said suspicions were related to Third Circle and funds aimed at "projecting a positive image of Qatar" in relation to its role as a mediator for a truce and hostage release agreement in Gaza. A final name that has been linked to the affair is Israeli businessman Gil Birger, who this month told Israel's state broadcaster that he had been asked by Mr Footlik to pay Mr Feldstein through his company. What is the significance? Head of political studies at Bar-Ilan University Jonathan Rynhold told news agency AFP the affair "ties all bad things relating to Netanyahu together in one package". "This links Netanyahu directly to the policy of appeasing Hamas," he said. His reference was to Israel allowing Qatar to send millions of dollars in cash into Gaza that many now believe strengthened Hamas and enabled it to conduct its October 7, 2023, terror attack in southern Israel. Qatar began sending cash to the Gaza Strip in 2018, via Israeli territory. Israel reportedly approved those transfers with an objective of maintaining peace in Gaza and thwarting attempts to establish a Palestinian state. Photo shows Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference. The Israeli prime minister says the nation's security cabinet will vote to dismiss the top spy, after an extraordinary breakdown between the pair. The affair has piled more pressure on Mr Netanyahu, who has clashed with the judiciary over his bid to sack Ronen Bar, the head of Shin Bet. Mr Bar's relationship with the Netanyahu government soured after he blamed the executive for the October 7 security fiasco and, crucially, following a Shin Bet probe into Qatargate. In addition to the questions Qatargate raises about Israel's apparent attempts to draw closer to a main backer of its foe, analysts say it could also further jeopardise Jerusalem's already fissuring relationship with Egypt, its neighbour and key mediator in ceasefire negotiations. "Egypt is Israel's most significant Arab ally. It was the first regional country to accept Israel, and shares a 200-kilometre border with the Jewish state," Dan Perry, former Middle East chief editor for the Associated Press, wrote for The Forward. "Risking that relationship to curry favour with Qatar would be astonishingly short-sighted, and it is a genuine risk: The Egyptian regime led by President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi is a major enemy of the regional Muslim Brotherhood network of organisations, which Qatar has backed. "The domestic implosion of Israeli governance is colliding with regional and international efforts to stabilise Gaza, prevent escalation with Hezbollah, and manage power rivalries in the Gulf." How has Qatar responded? A Qatari government official told AFP it was "not the first time we have been subject of a smear campaign by those who do not want to see an end to this conflict or the remaining hostages returned to their families". The official said Qatar would continue its mediation efforts on the Israel-Hamas war. Qatar has also been embroiled in a similar scandal with the EU since December 2022 in which it is alleged officials linked to the European Parliament took Qatari bribes to manipulate EU parliamentary proceedings at least 300 times. The African nations of Mauritania and Morocco were also alleged to have provided funds for the influence operation. All three governments denied involvement. Qatar's main motivation then was also said to have been to rehabilitate its image ahead of hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup. What next for Netanyahu? Mr Netanyahu defended his aides on Wednesday, saying that Qatar "is a complex country … but it is not an enemy state". It remained unclear, however, how the affair would continue to unfold. "Will he need to sacrifice these two people? If he sacrifices them, will they open their mouths?" Professor Gideon Rahat of the Hebrew University said of Mr Netanyahu and his aides. For now, the prime minister is fighting back and "framing it as though the secret service is after him because he wants to kick out the head of the secret service", Mr Rahat added. "In a normal country, if the prime minister had spies in his office, he would resign, but we are not in normal times." The attempted sacking of Shin Bet's director, who has presided over the Qatargate investigation along with police, and other top officials has fuelled large anti-government protests in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in recent days. Street protests against the Netanyahu government have ramped up across Israel since late March. (Reuters: Ronen Zvulun TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) Israelis have cast those efforts as a bid to undermine state institutions while prolonging the war in Gaza, prompting fears for a civil war as well as a constitutional crisis. Meanwhile, Mr Netanyahu is scheduled to visit Hungary next week despite being the subject of an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant. Hungary, defying its legal obligation as an ICC member state, has said it would not uphold the warrant. ABC/AFP
Quotes by Jewish well-known persons: “Goyim were born only to serve us. Without that, they have no place in the world, only to serve the people of Israel. Why are Gentiles needed? They will work, they will plow, they will reap. We will sit like an effendi and eat. That is why Gentiles were created.” – Ovadia Yosef, Chief Rabbi of Israel and Talmudic scholar We must realize that our party’s most powerful weapon is racial tension. By propounding into the consciousness of the dark races that for centuries they have been oppressed by the Whites, we can mold them to the program of the Communist Party. In America, we will aim for subtle victory. While inflaming the negro minority against the Whites, we will endeavor to instill in the Whites a guilt complex for their exploitation of the negroes. We will aid the negroes to rise in prominence in every walk of life, in the professions and in the world of sports and entertainment. With this prestige, the negro will be able to intermarry with the Whites and begin a process which will deliver America to our cause.” - Israel Cohen, World Zionist Organization “If you are a White male, you don’t deserve to live. You are a cancer, you’re a disease, White males have never contributed anything positive to the world! You maintain your White male privilege only by oppressing, discriminating against, and enslaving others.” – Noel Ignatiev, Communist Party USA “It is in the Jewish interest, it is in humanities interest, that Whites experience a genocide. Until White children are burned alive, White women raped, mutilated, murdered, and all White men who have not been slaughtered watch powerlessly as their people are terrorized, only then will mankind be on a more equal footing, ready to discuss White privilege and the apparent chip on the shoulder that minorities have.” - Rabbi Ishmael Levitts “The Jewish people as a whole will be its own messiah. It will attain world dominion by the dissolution of other races, by the abolition of frontiers, the annihilation of monarchy, and by the establishment of a world republic in which the Jews will everywhere exercise the privilege of citizenship. In this New World Order, the children of Israel will furnish all the leaders without encountering opposition. The governments of the different peoples forming the world republic will fall without difficulty into the hands of the Jews. It will then be possible for the Jewish rulers to abolish private property, and everywhere to make use of the resources of the State. Thus, will the promise of the Talmud be fulfilled, in which is said that when the Messianic time is come, the Jews will have all the property of the whole world in their hands.” – Baruch Levy https://search.brave.com/search?q=T...summary=1&conversation=8c604440d2da3d07fbdbf5 "If you support Nationalism for America, you’ll be labeled a racist, terrorist, Nazi. And if you don’t support Nationalism for Israel, you’ll be labeled a racist, terrorist, Nazi, antisemite." https://jaketyler1122.substack.com/...ons-email&utm_medium=email&triedRedirect=true
Seen as litmus test on Dems' support for Israel, Netanyahu US Senate overwhelmingly votes down Sanders’ motions to block arms sales to Israel Minority of Democrats voting in favor falls from 19 to 15 since Nov., with Ossoff flipping to ‘No’ as he readies for reelection fight next year; freshman Kim a more surprising ‘Yes’ vote By Jacob Magid 4 Apr 2025 https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-se...anders-motions-to-block-arms-sales-to-israel/ US Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, joined by Democratic Senators Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Peter Welch of Vermont, address a news conference on restricting arms sales to Israel at the US Capitol on November 19, 2024 in Washington. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images/AFP) The US Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly rejected a pair of resolutions by progressive Senator Bernie Sanders aimed at blocking the transfer of weapons to Israel, with the minority of Democrats voting in favor falling since the last time such an initiative was advanced several months ago. Sanders’s motions were virtually guaranteed to fail given the Republican majority in the Senate and the still small minority of Democrats willing to vote against Israel. However, such votes are often framed as a litmus test on how much the Democratic Party is shifting in its support for Israel, and in particular, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Republican President Donald Trump’s replacement of Joe Biden in the White House does not appear to have significantly effected Thursday’s voting. Fifteen Democrats voted in favor of two resolutions blocking the sale of $8.8 billion in bombs and munitions to Israel. When Sanders brought similar resolutions before the Senate in November 2024, 19 Democrats voted in favor of one of them Among the four senators who voted in favor of Sanders’s resolutions in November and who who flipped their votes on Thursday to “No” was Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia, who is likely to face an intense reelection challenge from Republicans in 2026. The others were fellow Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock, New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen — who announced earlier this month she will not seek reelection next year — and Maine Senator Angus King, an Independent who caucuses with Democrats. One of the more notable “Yes” votes was freshman New Jersey Senator Andy Kim, who has been cast as a more moderate Democrat. He visited Israel earlier this year and has advocated for the release of the hostages. Displaced Palestinians flee from Shijaiyah, Gaza, on Thursday, April 3, 2025, after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders in the area. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi) The other fourteen Democrats who voted in favor of blocking weapons to Israel were Mazie Hirono, Ben Ray Luján, Bernie Sanders, Chris Van Hollen, Jeff Merkley, Ed Markey, Tim Kaine, Elizabeth Warren, Martin Heinrich, Brian Schatz, Tina Smith, Dick Durbin, Peter Welch and Chris Murphy. The first resolution was blocked by a vote of 82 to 15 and the second resolution was blocked by a vote of 83 to 15. Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin voted present, as she did in all three of Sanders’s resolutions in November. In remarks urging support for the resolutions, Sanders described the toll on civilians, saying thousands of children were facing malnutrition and starvation, especially from a recent blockade of humanitarian assistance. “What is happening right now is unthinkable. Today it is 31 days and counting with absolutely no humanitarian aid getting into Gaza, nothing. No food, no water, no medicine, no fuel, for over a month,” Sanders said. The suspension, which Israel says is aimed at pressuring Hamas in ongoing hostage talks, applies to food, medicine and fuel imports. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman James Risch of Idaho urged defeat of Sanders’s resolutions, saying, “They would abandon Israel, our closest ally in the Middle East, during a pivotal moment for global security.” Palestinians receive bags of flour and other humanitarian aid distributed by UNRWA, the UN agency helping Palestinian refugees in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi) Trump began his second term by reversing his predecessor Biden’s efforts to place some limits on what arms are sent to Israel. Trump in February sidestepped the congressional review process to approve billions of dollars in military sales to Israel. US law gives Congress the right to stop major foreign weapons sales by passing resolutions of disapproval. Although no such resolution has both passed Congress and survived a presidential veto, the law requires the Senate to vote if a resolution is filed. Such resolutions have at times led to angry debates embarrassing to past presidents. Israel launched its offensive against Hamas after the terror group’s October 7 onslaught killed 1,200 Israelis and took 251 hostage. Yamama Jundia, 13, injured in an Israeli airstrike, grieves alongside others over the bodies of their relatives, who were killed in the same strike, at the Baptist Hospital in Gaza City on Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi) More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli campaign in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, whose figures aren’t verified and don’t differentiate between civilians and combatants. The ministry says over 1,000 have been killed since Israel resumed military operations in Gaza on March 18, collapsing a fragile truce after two months. The truce was supposed to transition on March 2 to its second phase, which would have seen a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and a permanent ceasefire, but Israel sought to rework the terms to instead extend the first phase. Hamas has insisted in sticking to the original terms of the deal, leading to the drawn-out stalemate. Much of Gaza has been reduced to rubble, leaving hundreds of thousands of people sheltering in tents or bombed-out buildings. Reuters contributed to this report.
Who they are. DELIBERATELY KILLING CHILDREN, then claiming it as some military victory. Israel is truly sick.
Who they are: Liars and Murderers. IDF is a criminal org: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news...f-claims/00000196-0467-d6b6-a9df-ee7fbc060000 (Israeli paper.) A video obtained by The New York Times of an Israeli attack in Gaza that killed 15 rescue workers at the end of March shows that contrary to Israel's claims, the clearly-marked ambulances had their lights on when they arrived at a scene in south Gaza and came under Israeli fire. An IDF spokesman had previously said that soldiers had been suspicious of the vehicles because "they were moving without coordination or emergency lights." THEY KILLED THEM FOR NOT HAVING EMERGENCY LIGHTS ON!!!! And even that was a lie. Support these evil skum all you want. I am out.
Netanyahu planning White House visit Monday President Donald Trump meets with Israel’s … more > By Mallory Wilson The Washington Times Saturday, April 5, 2025 https://www.washingtontimes.com/new...-netanyahu-planning-white-house-visit-monday/ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is planning a Monday visit, a White House official confirmed to The Washington Times. This meeting will be the second for Mr. Netanyahu to the White House. He had previously visited in February to discuss the Israel-Gaza war. During their meeting, Mr. Trump announced his plan to take over the Gaza Strip and have other countries take in Palestinian refugees. Mr. Trump told reporters on Air Force One Thursday that he spoke with Mr. Netanyahu and he would be visiting in the “not too distant future.” Israel has not been spared from Mr. Trump’s retaliatory tariffs that he announced Wednesday. Israel now faces a 17% retaliatory tariff. The two leaders are also expected to discuss the Israel-Gaza war as Israel moves to set up new security measures across Gaza to put pressure on Hamas. There are still roughly 50 hostages being held in Gaza, with Israel believing over half of them are dead. Israel has promised to ramp up its attacks until Hamas returns the remaining hostages and leaves the area. Hamas has said it will release the hostages in exchange for hostages held in Israel to also be released and for Israeli soldiers to be pulled from Gaza. “We’ll be speaking about what’s going on, that’s another thing we’d like to get solved,” Mr. Trump told reporters Thursday. This article is based in part on wire service reports.