The deposition in the United States of lobbyist Jay Footlik—suspected of involvement in the Qatargate affair—was unexpectedly canceled for the third time. Footlik's testimony was supposed to take place under a coordinated agreement with the Israel Police. According to sources in the U.S. Department of Justice, Israel is still unaware of the reason for the cancellation.
The previous two postponements were due to personal circumstances affecting Footlik, including the death of his parents.
In April, Judge Menachem Mizrachi described Footlik’s role in the case: “An American company named The Third Circle, allegedly owned by Footlik and involved in promoting Qatari interests in several countries—including Israel—established direct and indirect ties with suspect Yonatan Urich, Netanyahu’s advisor.” According to the indictment, the goal was “to promote Qatar favorably regarding the hostage deal, and to spread negative messages about Egypt’s role as mediator, thus elevating Qatar's image.”
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Netanyahu's suspected advisors, from right to left: Urich, Feldstein and Einhor
(Photos: Shaul Golan, Boaz Arad, Q world / Shutterstock)
Mizrachi added that, "to accomplish this, a business-economic connection was created between this company, via intermediaries Urich and another suspect (Israel Einhorn), in exchange for funds transferred from the company to Eli Feldstein via Gil Birger. In practical terms, the three allegedly acted to send messages to journalists so that pro-Qatar articles would appear in the media, minimizing Egypt's role as a fair mediator and steering the news agenda.”
Meanwhile, i24news reports that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara intends to ask Serbia to extradite suspect Israel Einhorn. So far, police attempts to question Einhorn through Interpol mediation have failed.
