The ‘Qatari cash’ scandal that could end Netanyahu’s career

In 2016, a man who called himself “DJ Cock” was filmed being thrown out of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, dressed as a golden penis. His real name was Yisrael “Srulik” Einhorn and 10 years on he is at the centre of a scandal – “Qatargate” – that could change votes in Israel’s knife-edge general election. Einhorn and two aides to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are accused of working for Qatar. The aides are Netanyahu’s senior media adviser, Jonatan Urich, and the prime minister’s military spokesman, Eli Feldstein. The men have largely denied the accusations. A former prime minister, Naftali Bennett, called the affair the “most serious act of treason” in Israel’s history if proved true. Shorts Einhorn worked in advertising and started his own political consultancy. He clearly had talent as a provocateur: the golden phallus costume was to reflect a “post Brexit erectorial mood of restlessness”, he said at the time. He joined five of Netanyahu’s election campaigns between 2019 and 2022. Israel’s Channel 12 ran a headline: “Who said an adviser to Bibi can’t walk around dressed as a golden sex organ?” Einhorn’s association with Qatar began innocently enough. His consultancy, Perception, was paid to spread the word that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar would be friendly to Jewish visitors. There was a good story to tell – the stadiums even had kosher food – but an investigation by the New Yorker published this week found that Einhorn’s firm set up a fake news site and bogus social media accounts to aid its efforts. The magazine carries no reply from Einhorn. And the Qatari money reportedly kept coming after the World Cup ended. It was seemingly paid to plant stories in the Israeli media about Qatar’s role as a “peacemaker” – countering the narrative that the emirate was a state sponsor of terrorism. The New Yorker reported that Einhorn shared the money – tens of thousands of dollars a month – with Urich, who was “Netanyahu’s first phone call in the morning and last phone call before bed”. Feldstein is alleged to have been paid separately from a Washington lobbyist who worked for Qatar. One of the stories concerned efforts to mediate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Einhorn reportedly texted Feldstein a line to brief to journalists: “Egypt can no longer be trusted. From now on, only Qatar will lead the negotiations.” The line was to be attributed not to the Prime Minister’s office but to “senior US officials”. Activists holding a sign reading, ‘Qatargate, corruption, treason, recusal now’, in protest against Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv. A protester (third from left) is wearing a mask of Yisrael Einhorn (Photo: Zoharby/Wikimedia Commons) That night, Channel 12’s military correspondent, Nir Dvori, repeated this on air almost word for word. “The Americans are saying this?” asked the anchor. “The Americans!” replied Dvori. Einhorn, jubilant, reportedly texted that they were “giving birth to reality”. Defending himself later, Dvori posted: “It never occurred to me that Netanyahu’s people were serving Qatar for a fee.” Urich and Feldstein were arrested last year for “contact with a foreign agent, the acceptance of bribes, fraud, breach of trust and money laundering”. Police sent the file to prosecutors in January, but so far there have been no indictments. Urich has denied any wrongdoing, arguing that Qatar was not an enemy state, and said he had been paid only in connection with the World Cup. Einhorn moved to Serbia and has refused to come home, at first denying he worked for Qatar and then changing his story, saying he’d only ever “sought to share the truth with the Israeli public — even when it was uncomfortable”. Feldstein, meanwhile, said he didn’t realise he was participating in a Qatari campaign. Qatar’s line is that the whole thing is “journalistic propaganda”. Whatever the truth, its impact on the political race in Israel could be very real. Demonstrators calling for an end to the war in Gaza alluded to Qatargate outside the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem in March 2025 (Photo: Menahem Kahana/AFP) Any mention of links to Qatar hurts Netanyahu because of its role in funding Gaza, and by default Hamas, before 7 October, 2023. It’s also a reminder that Netanyahu was in charge on Israel’s worst ever day, when some 1,200 people were killed in an attack launched from the Gaza Strip. For many voters, what Netanyahu did, or failed to do, related to that day is the central issue of the campaign. Netanyahu allowed Qatar to send money and humanitarian aid to Gaza for years, knowing it would benefit Hamas – and as a result weaken the Palestinian Authority and the chances of a unified Palestinian state. Einhorn himself was quoted as saying that “suitcases” of cash were transferred to Gaza, under the supervision of the Israel Defence Forces. But Qatargate boils down to allegations that the Prime Minister’s people worked for a country hosting Hamas at a time of war. Crowdsourced billboards put up during the current election campaign read: “Qatar Funded the Massacre and Netanyahu’s Office”. For Netanyahu, who is clinging on and hoping to defy the odds by remaining prime minister, it looks on the surface like a catastrophic failure to control his officials while they worked a lucrative side hustle for a foreign power. But there are allegations that Netanyahu, too, received Qatar’s cash. Udi Levi, who once ran Mossad’s effort to stop terrorism financing, says leaked documents show Qatar trying to give Netanyahu millions of dollars. Qatar says the documents are fabricated. Netanyahu has accused Levi of using his Mossad background to “give an illusion of truth”. Netanyahu is hoping to defy the odds by remaining prime minister as Israelis go to the polls on 27 October (Photo: Ryan Murphy/Getty) The Prime Minister’s Office said “Netanyahu never received a shekel from Qatar” and that whoever spread such an “absolute and baseless lie” would “pay, and pay big”. Netanyahu is now suing Levi – just one of six libel actions relating to allegations that he took money from Qatar. Israeli voters are used to seeing their Prime Minister accused of corruption – he was charged in 2019 with bribery, fraud and breach of trust. That trial still grinds on, now in its seventh year, but Netanyahu’s perceived associations with Qatar could ultimately prove far more damaging. On Thursday, Netanyahu took the UN General Assembly podium in New York as dozens of delegates walked out, inviting any remaining “moral cowards” to join them. His real audience was at home. He accused Qatar of hosting Hamas leaders and spending billions on universities and media to “brainwash young minds” against Israel and the West. It was a performance aimed at motivating his party’s base. The general election, taking place next month, is too close to call. Opinion polls don’t suggest who the winner might be, and no single party will get enough seats to form a majority. A relatively small number of votes could change the outcome. And that’s where the man who once wore a golden penis costume comes in. A poll published in January by the Times of Israel suggests that half of Israelis – and 30 per cent of government supporters – think it treasonous to work for Qatar and the Prime Minister at the same time. In such a tight election, the Qatargate scandal could help to decide Netanyahu’s fate.