The Media Line: Netanyahu Adviser’s WhatsApp Messages Leaked, Qatar ChatGPT Requests Revealed  

Netanyahu Adviser’s WhatsApp Messages Leaked, Qatar ChatGPT Requests Revealed  

By The Media Line Staff  

WhatsApp conversations attributed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s top adviser Jonatan Urich surfaced online after he made the code for an AI media-tracking tool publicly available, while separate revelations showed that he had repeatedly turned to ChatGPT for help crafting a campaign to bolster Qatar’s standing in Israel.  

Urich created the tool with Anthropic’s Claude AI model to monitor coverage of Netanyahu and his wife. By posting the code on GitHub, he made it possible to inspect how the program worked and how it communicated with an outside service.  

According to Calcalist, Urich connected his private WhatsApp account to a service operating from the United Arab Emirates, which may have enabled that service to receive his correspondence without encryption. It has not been established that the possible exposure was responsible for the messages appearing online.  

“Whoever hacked [my] WhatsApp and published private conversations while adding to and altering the exchanges will pay the full price,” Urich said in a statement posted to X and attributed to his lawyers.  

Urich, 37, has advised Netanyahu for more than a decade. He is one of three current or former Prime Minister’s Office aides accused of representing the interests of Qatar, a Gulf state that backs Hamas, while working in the office.  

He is also a central suspect in the “Qatargate” investigation, which is examining possible offenses including contact with a foreign agent, brokering bribery, money laundering, fraud and breach of trust. Investigators suspect Qatar financed organizations and campaigns associated with members of Netanyahu’s inner circle in an effort to promote its interests in Israel. Those linked to the inquiry include Urich and Srulik Einhorn, a political consultant who has worked with Netanyahu for years.  

N12’s “Main Edition” reported Monday night that transcripts from Urich’s interrogation showed that in September 2024, nearly a year after the war began, he made several ChatGPT queries seeking help with a strategy to enhance Qatar’s reputation.  

The queries sought proposals for presenting Qatar’s prime minister and emir more favorably, along with messaging directed at Israelis, Jewish communities abroad, and opinion leaders in the United States. During questioning, an investigator asked Urich about his queries “that could help whitewash Qatar and improve its image.”  

“I don’t remember what I asked the chat. I ask it about many subjects,” Urich said during questioning. “I did not act or do anything for Qatar’s benefit in Israel, not with the Israeli media, not with Israeli citizens and not with the prime minister.” 

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