Two close associates of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were arrested in an investigation into alleged payments from Qatar, in a scandal Israeli media call “Qatargate.”

Yonatan Urich, a senior Netanyahu adviser, and Eli Feldstein, the prime minister’s former military affairs spokesman, were arrested on suspicion of contact with a foreign agent, money laundering, bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. A magistrate’s court extended their detention, citing “reasonable suspicion” their release could obstruct the probe.

Investigators allege payments flowed from a US company called The Third Circle, owned by Jay Footlik, a former special assistant to Bill Clinton, through Feldstein to Urich via an intermediary businessman.

Feldstein allegedly fed Israeli journalists pro-Qatari messages dictated by a source with Qatari business ties, presenting them as the views of senior Israeli officials.

Netanyahu himself testified in the probe but is not a suspect. His Likud party called the arrests a “political witch hunt.”

The investigation continues under a court-imposed publication ban.