Jerusalem Post Editor Zvika Klein named as journalist questioned under caution in Qatargate probe

Police are investigating Jerusalem Post Editor-in-Chief Zvika Klein on suspicion of contact with a foreign agent, as part of their ongoing probe into alleged unlawful ties between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s senior aides and Qatar.

The journalist’s name is cleared for publication by his legal counsel after police questioned him under caution yesterday, in addition to Netanyahu aides Jonatan Urich and Eli Feldstein. The latter pair are suspected of having been paid to spread pro-Qatari messaging to reporters in order to boost the Gulf state’s image as a mediator in indirect hostage talks between Israel and Hamas, all while in Netanyahu’s employ.

Klein was summoned to give testimony yesterday, and subsequently questioned under caution. A police source told Haaretz that law enforcement obtained the necessary clearance from the State Attorney’s Office to question Klein, as required for questioning journalists.

Channel 13 reported in February that while on the premier’s payroll, former Netanyahu spokesman Feldstein arranged a visit to Qatar for Klein, who published an account of his three-day visit in April 2024, in which he met with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani and other officials.

Klein posted on X, in response to the TV report, that he visited Qatar at the direct invitation of the Qatari government. He said he had never met Feldstein and only spoke to Feldstein, in Feldstein’s capacity as a public relations person, for the first time after his return from Qatar, to coordinate TV interviews about the visit on Channels 12 and 13. Klein did not specify how he came into contact with Feldstein, or whether he knew Feldstein worked for Netanyahu.