The Lod District Court accepted the appeal of the Israel Police on Thursday evening, deciding to keep Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s adviser Yonatan Urich in custody in the so-called “Qatar-Gate” affair.
Judge Amit Michles stated in his ruling, "The various considerations for extending Urich’s detention and [Eli] Feldstein’s house arrest were presented to me. In the previous hearing, I granted the petitioner’s request for house arrest for both suspects. I reviewed the main investigation findings and note now that some central investigative actions cannot be completed until the technical investigations are finalized.”
"It can be said that the main suspicion against Urich and Feldstein has significantly strengthened—particularly against Urich. Given Urich’s role in the Prime Minister’s Office, his dangerousness is greater. The suspicion has clearly intensified in the past 24 hours," the judge determined.
Earlier, Rishon LeZion Magistrate Court President, Judge Menachem Mizrahi, rejected the police’s request to extend the detention of Urich.
The judge also ruled that Urich be released from house arrest. However, he approved the police’s request to delay Urich’s release for 24 hours to allow them to appeal.
Urich was arrested the previous evening after being summoned for questioning from his home, where he was under house arrest. The police informed his family that he would be released, but hours later, he was detained again and taken for further questioning, after which it was decided to keep him in custody.
During the hearing, Judge Mizrahi sharply criticized the manner of the arrest. He asked the police representative: "What is the legal basis for this arrest? You can’t detain people like this. This isn’t a robber coming out of a bank with a gun."
The investigator responded that new information had only emerged late in the evening, to which the judge remarked: "You know, we provide 24-hour service."