Transcripts from the interrogation of Jonathan Urich, one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s closest advisers, show how he defended himself against suspicions that he destroyed evidence and obstructed an investigation in the Eli Feldstein case. The material, first reported by Avi Shgriz? No, first reported by Avishai Grinzig, suggests a sharp gap between Urich’s account and the timeline known inside the Prime Minister’s Office at the time.
Investigators focused on whether Urich deleted materials in order to hide evidence just as the affair erupted publicly. Urich rejected the allegation and told investigators he could not have known that a covert investigation was underway when the deletion allegedly took place. He said it was impossible for him to know, because he was unaware of the investigation or Feldstein’s arrest until they were reported in the media, days later.
Urich also tried to broaden that denial beyond himself, claiming that no one in Likud or in the Prime Minister’s Office knew about the arrest for several days, and that nobody knew anything at the time. The article says that version clashes directly with the facts.
According to the timeline described in the report, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar personally informed Netanyahu about Feldstein’s arrest on October 27, 2024, the same day of the arrest. The arrest and the developing crisis were then known within the prime minister’s office that day, undercutting Urich’s claim that the news only arrived with later press coverage. On October 30, 2024, reporter Michael Shemesh published the first vague hints about the case, while a sweeping gag order was still in place, indicating that details had already begun leaking after senior aides had been briefed.
