Court Rejects Prosecutors' Request to Bar Jonathan Urich from the Prime Minister's Office

A Tel Aviv District Court on Thursday again rejected the prosecution’s request to impose restrictive conditions on Jonathan Urich, meaning the prime minister’s adviser may continue working at the Prime Minister’s Office and remain in contact with Benjamin Netanyahu.

This is the second time the court has turned down the state’s effort to keep Urich away from Netanyahu. A previous ruling had already denied a request to separate him from the prime minister, and the latest decision again refused to bar that contact.

The ruling came about two weeks after the Central District Prosecutor’s Office filed an amended indictment in the classified documents leak case involving the German newspaper Bild. In that filing, Urich was added as the third central defendant. The indictment, approved by the attorney general and the state attorney, accuses him of serious security offenses, including two counts of knowingly passing secret information with intent to harm national security, as well as passing secret information, possessing secret information, and destroying evidence.

Along with the indictment, prosecutors asked the court to impose additional restrictions, including a complete ban on Urich entering the Prime Minister’s Office or any security facility. Judge Ala Masarwa of the Tel Aviv District Court rejected that request and ruled that Urich may be in contact with Netanyahu.