Jonatan Urich (; born 21 February 1989) is a

strategic Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "troop leadership; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the "art o ...

advisor An adviser or advisor is normally a person with more and deeper knowledge in a specific area and usually also includes persons with cross-functional and multidisciplinary expertise. An adviser's role is that of a mentor or guide and differs catego ...

Israeli Prime Minister The prime minister of Israel (, Hebrew abbreviation: ; , ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief executive of the State of Israel. Israel is a parliamentary republic with a president as the head of state. The presiden ...

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

. He previously served as Benjamin Netanyahu’s

spokesman A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

, as director of new media, and as a spokesperson for the

Likud Likud (, ), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement (), is a major Right-wing politics, right-wing, political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon in an alliance with several right-wing par ...

movement.

Biography

Urich was born in

Kfar Saba Kfar Saba ( ), officially Kfar Sava , is a List of Israeli cities, city in the Sharon plain, Sharon region, of the Central District (Israel), Central District of State of Israel, Israel. In 2019 it had a population of 110,456, making it the 16th-l ...

. His father, Edward (Edi), originally from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, while his mother was religious. He grew up in a religious household and attended the Bar-Ilan religious state school in the city. During his youth, he was a member of the

Bnei Akiva Bnei Akiva (, , "Children of Akiva") is the largest religious Zionist youth movement in the world, with over 125,000 members in 42 countries. It was first established in Mandatory Palestine in 1929, advocating the values of Torah and labor. Bne ...

movement and the Realistic Religious Zionism movement.

Netanyahu's spokesperson

In 2015, at the age of 26, he was appointed head of the new media division and spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as spokesperson for the Likud party. He was brought in at the request of Netanyahu's media advisor,

Topaz Luk Topaz Luk (; born April 26, 1992) is the spokesperson and the media consultant for Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. Biography Luk was born and raised in Ashkelon, where he attended Nof Yam A Elementary School and Kfar Silver High S ...

, who had served with him as an IDF spokesperson.

Qatargate allegations, arrest and release

In November 2024, reports emerged that Urich and Yisrael Einhorn, both senior advisers to Prime Minister Netanyahu, were involved in public relations efforts to improve Qatar's image ahead of the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

. In February 2025, Israeli Channel 12 reported that Urich (along with

Eli Feldstein Eliezer "Eli" Feldstein (; born about 1992) is Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman for military affairs. He was interrogated and arrested in November 2024 on suspicion of security offenses during the Gaza war, and in March 2025 he was arrested on s ...

) were employed by a Qatar-funded international firm to promote Doha's image in Israel, particularly highlighting Qatar's role in mediating hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas. The company is said to have sought to influence media coverage in Israel through direct and indirect means. In the same month,

Attorney General of Israel The attorney general of Israel (, ''Ha-Yo'etz Ha-Mishpati La-Memshala'', ) heads the legal system of the executive branch and the public prosecution of the state. The attorney general advises the government in legal matters, represents the stat ...

Gali Baharav-Miara instructed the

Shin Bet The Israel Security Agency (ISA; , (GSS); ), better known by the Hebrew acronyms, acronyms Shabak (; ; ) or Shin Bet (from the abbreviation of , "Security Service"), is Israel's internal Security agency, security service. Its motto is "''Magen ...

security agency A security agency is a governmental organization that conducts intelligence activities for the internal security of a state. They are the domestic cousins of foreign intelligence agencies, and typically conduct counterintelligence to thwart other ...

and the

Israel Police The Israel Police (; ) is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fighting, traffic control, maintaining public safety, and counter-terrorism. It is under the jurisdiction o ...

to investigate the allegations, marking the official launch of the "Qatargate" investigation. Urich was arrested on 31 March 2025, and his arrest was extended until 7 April 2025. Urich is suspected of multiple offenses, including contact with a foreign agent, bribery, fraud, breach of trust, and money laundering. He was released to

house arrest House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined b ...

on 7 April, which ended in May 2025.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Urich, Jonatan Israeli spokespersons Yeshivat Har Etzion alumni 1989 births Living people