Maj. Gen. (res) Yoav “Poli” Mordechai has been suspended from Israel’s hostage negotiating team following developments in the ongoing “Qatargate” investigation.
Police investigators questioned Mordechai on Thursday and deemed testimony he gave “problematic” without providing further details, leading to a 14-day ban on his involvement in the sensitive portfolio, Hebrew media outlets reported Sunday.
For the past year and a half, Mordechai — a former head of the Defense Ministry’s COGAT Palestinian liaison unit, and a former IDF Spokesman — has served as deputy to Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon, the IDF’s envoy for hostage negotiations, which involve talks with Qatari mediators.
Last week marked the second time Mordechai was questioned under caution by investigators. His first interrogation on suspicion of contact with a foreign agent and accepting bribes was in early July.
At the time, reports alleged that his company, Novard, had transferred large sums to Jonatan Urich — a senior aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a key suspect in the affair — to fund an online campaign to improve Qatar’s image in Israel. Mordechai’s business partner Shaun Bouter, an ex-Mossad official, was also questioned as a suspect.
Novard has in recent years represented the Rafael and Elbit defense companies in marketing defense products to the Qatari government, the Ynet news outlet reported.
The company also reportedly signed a contract with Perception, a public relations company owned by Srulik Einhorn, a former staffer to Netanyahu, as part of a campaign to boost Qatar’s image in the leadup to the 2022 World Cup. Urich also worked for Perception at the time of the campaign.
Addressing the two-week ban on his involvement in the hostages issue, Mordechai insisted he has “always adhered strictly to the letter of the law and assisted the State of Israel whenever the need arose.”
“Even in this case, though everything was done in an open, transparent manner and reported as required by the law, I will do everything that is required to assist legal authorities in uncovering the truth and will act according to their instructions, if only because reaching the truth will prove that there was no blemish and no flaw in my conduct,” he said in a statement, distributed via his attorney Gadi Zilbershlag.
During a court hearing last week over restrictions placed on Urich, Channel 12 reported that Urich’s lawyer argued they were unfair, noting that Mordechai and other figures questioned in the case had been permitted to return to their professional roles — including at Novard — and that other former security officials under scrutiny were still working with senior government figures.
“Mordechai, who was interrogated, all the people who were interrogated, have returned to their places of work,” said Urich’s lawyer Noa Milstein. “Former senior officials in the defense establishment are now working with senior officials in the government. Therefore, isolating Mr. Urich makes no sense.”
After Mordechai was first interrogated in July, the IDF praised his work on the hostage negotiations.
“He is not conducting direct negotiations with the mediators, but his contribution is highly significant and, at times, even critical to the effort,” the IDF said at the time. “Throughout the process, his professional positions have been courageous, impartial, and have greatly contributed to the work.”
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.