The name of Qatar’s representative on U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza Board of Peace has surfaced during the Shin Bet and police investigation into the Qatargate affair, according to information obtained by ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth.
Investigators from the Shin Bet and the police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit have examined ties between employees of the Israeli company Novard and Ali al-Tawadi, a senior Qatari diplomat who serves as Qatar’s representative on the body overseeing the management of the Gaza Strip under Trump’s Gaza Board of Peace.
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Ali al-Tawadi, right, alongside the Qatari prime minister at the U.N. General Assembly
(Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz)
As part of the probe, investigators focused on meetings and contacts between Novard personnel — particularly one senior executive — and al-Tawadi, both before and during the war. Israelis questioned as suspects in Qatargate met with al-Tawadi during the war, and some were hosted by him in Doha. Additional Israelis who are not suspects in the case also maintained contact with Qatari officials, met with al-Tawadi and were hosted by him.
The Qatargate investigation centers in part on suspected ties between Novard employees and Qatari officials involving an alleged influence operation and other projects that, as previously reported by Haaretz, began around the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
According to ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth, one of the investigative tracks pursued primarily by the Shin Bet, and to a lesser extent by Lahav 433, concerns connections between Novard personnel — including retired Maj. Gen. Yoav “Poli” Mordechai, a former senior official in the Mossad, and other company executives — and al-Tawadi, who is considered a senior figure in the Qatari government.
Al-Tawadi was recently appointed by Trump as Qatar’s representative in the Gaza management body operating under his Gaza Board of Peace initiative.
He was present in the Oval Office in September 2025 during a phone call in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized to Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed al-Thani following a failed strike in Doha. International reports at the time said al-Tawadi also met with Netanyahu during that visit. The Prime Minister’s Office denied that claim, saying al-Tawadi was present only during the phone call.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the apology call with the Qatari prime minister, with Ali al-Tawadi in the background, circled
(Photo: The White House)
Al-Tawadi previously held a senior official role in organizing the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and his name has been linked in the past to corruption allegations. In the lead-up to the tournament, Novard entered into a business arrangement with Qatar’s World Cup organizing committee to provide cybersecurity services for the event. The services were delivered through additional companies.
Al-Tawadi is the second senior Qatari official whose name has been reported by ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth as connected to the Qatargate investigation. In July 2025, the outlets first revealed the identity of another senior Qatari figure said to have directed the Israelis suspected in the affair: Sheikh Tamer bin Hamad al-Thani, head of Qatar’s Government Communications Office since March 2023.
Sheikh Tamer, a member of Qatar’s ruling family and a graduate of Northwestern University in Qatar with a focus on communications and media studies, met on several occasions between 2021 and 2023 with representatives of Israeli companies, according to investigative findings. Among those he met were adviser Yisrael Einhorn and retired Maj. Gen. Mordechai.