Israeli police have detained two people as part of an investigation into alleged illicit ties between advisers to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Qatar, DPA reported, BTA reports.
According to Israeli media, the two suspects are high-ranking advisers to the prime minister. Qatar, which is mediating in indirect talks with the Palestinian group "Hamas", is also considered its supporter. Further details of the case were not disclosed, as the court imposed a ban on the disclosure of information. Police announced that Netanyahu will also testify in the case.
The investigation is being conducted jointly with the domestic intelligence service "Shin Bet". Earlier this month, the Israeli government decided to dismiss the head of "Shin Bet" Ronen Bar, but the Supreme Court temporarily blocked this decision.
Critics in Israel warn that the move could be used to end the investigation into the Qatar affair.
Netanyahu's Likud party described the detention of one of the suspects as politically motivated and directed against the prime minister. According to the party, the case is a "fabricated scandal", and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar are working for "a coup through arrest warrants".
Opposition leader Yair Lapid criticized the Likud reaction, saying that their statement lacked one important clarification – that no one in Netanyahu's cabinet received money from Qatar.
Opposition politician Yair Golan accused Netanyahu of trying to sabotage the investigation and called for an investigation into suspicions that the prime minister compromised Israel's security for financial gain.