Yonatan Urich, adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Monday was releasedd to house arrest after the police announced that they would not request the court further extend his arrest.
Urich was arrested last week on suspicion of connection with the "Qatar Gate" affair.
The decision follows several days of investigations, at the conclusion of which it was decided not to demand that he remain in custody, and to instead agree to release him to house arrest under restrictive conditions. Urich has been forbidden from contacting anyone else involved in the affair.
In a court hearing on Friday, Urich and Eli Feldstein were released to house arrest under restrictive conditions. The police appealed the decision, leading the court to rule that Feldstein would be released to house arrest, while Urich would remain in custody.
During the hearing, it was revealed that the two were brought into a room together and left alone, apparently in an attempt to cause them to speak and by doing so, create problems in the investigation.
The room they were brought to is usually used for lawyers' meetings. Though there is not supposed to be documentation of these meetings, the meeting between Feldstein and Urich was documented.
During the court hearing, the judge slammed the police's position, stating that "the danger which you are trying to present is unclear." The judge also criticized the police for presenting a summarized report of the conflict between the suspects, instead of a full transcription.
"This is not what I would expect from a reasonable police force," the judge added. "How can you conduct this investigation when it is all over the news?"