Outgoing Mossad head Dedi Barnea believes that the alleged ties between Prime Minister Netanyahu's associates and Qatar did not cause security damage to the State of Israel.
According to a report in Haaretz, the remarks were made during meetings Barnea held with various figures, prior to his retirement from office.
Barnea made it clear that he does not address suspicions of corruption in the case, since he is not familiar with the details of the investigation. He said that it is possible that the investigation will yield findings in this regard - but he himself is not involved in it.
However, he noted that as head of the Mossad, he did not identify any harm in the negotiations for the hostage deal or any other security damage as a result of people in the Prime Minister's Office working for Qatar.
His words stand in contrast to the position of former Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, who wrote in an affidavit he submitted to the High Court of Justice that the affair raises "very serious suspicions regarding a serious harm to state security, with an emphasis on harming negotiations to release hostages, strengthening Hamas, and harming Israeli-Egyptian relations.".
At the center of the affair are Jonathan Urich, Israel Einhorn, and Eli Feldstein.
The main suspicion is that the three worked for Qatar in parallel with their work in Netanyahu's office, with the aim of whitewashing the Gulf state's image and presenting it as the preferred mediator for the hostage deal.
