Israel Police on Thursday requested that Maj. Gen. (res.) Yoav “Poli” Mordechai, a suspect in the Qatargate affair, be barred for 30 days from the Hostages and Missing Persons Directorate where he serves, as well as from its head, Maj. Gen. (res.) Nitzan Alon, former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and the service’s deputy head.
Mordechai agreed to the conditions, leading to the cancellation of a scheduled hearing at the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court. The move comes two weeks after police already prohibited him from taking part in negotiations over a potential hostage deal.
Mordechai is suspected of serious offenses, including contact with a foreign agent, failure to report under anti–money laundering law, bribery, fraud and breach of trust — allegations that had not previously been made public. He is represented by attorney Yossi Benkel, who also represents Qatar in legal proceedings in Israel.
In a court filing, Benkel accused investigators of leaking information and harming Mordechai’s role in the hostages directorate, calling the suspicions baseless. “There is no legal or factual foundation, even prima facie, for the allegations,” he wrote.
Alon, who heads the directorate, was summoned Wednesday to provide open testimony in the case. Investigators are probing whether Mordechai and a former Mossad senior declared their business ties with Qatar and whether they disclosed the scope of those connections.
The Qatargate probe intensified in July, when Mordechai was interrogated under caution on suspicion of accepting bribes. A former Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), head of the Civil Administration and IDF spokesperson, Mordechai continued serving in Alon’s directorate even after reports surfaced of his business dealings with Doha.
Documents revealed that, after leaving the military, Mordechai became a partner in the firm Novard, along with a former Mossad official. The company has represented Israeli defense contractors Rafael and Elbit in efforts to market arms to Qatar, and engaged with Israel Aerospace Industries. Investigators say Novard helped provide Qatari clients with cyber-defense services through intermediaries.
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The personalities behind Qatargate
(Photos: Yair Sagi, director of the Israel Defense Forces, Q world / Shutterstock, AP / Ohad Zwingenbergl, Boaz Arad)
Reports further allege Mordechai acted as a broker for major weapons and cyber deals involving Elbit and Verint, collecting millions of shekels in commissions. A 2024 deal valued his defense activities at roughly 20 million shekels.
Police are also examining allegations that Novard facilitated payments to Netanyahu adviser Jonathan Urich and strategist Israel (“Shrulik”) Einhorn, while simultaneously running a Qatari image-boosting influence campaign during the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Mordechai has denied wrongdoing.