Netanyahu Adviser Petition Rejected by Supreme Court

Israel's Supreme Court has rejected a petition seeking to remove Yonatan Urich, an adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, from his position in the Prime Minister's Office. The petition, filed by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, a watchdog organization, marked the ninth time the group has attempted to have Urich removed from his role.

The three-justice panel, consisting of Deputy Chief Justice Noam Solberg and Justices Alex Stein and Yechiel Kasher, dismissed the request and ordered the petitioners to pay court costs of 3,000 shekels (approximately $820).

The latest petition was based on a report published in the Israeli newspaper Yisrael Hayom, which cited unnamed security sources alleging that advisers to the prime minister had leaked classified information from security discussions to Qatar, including matters concerning Egypt. Both Urich and another adviser, Shrulik Einhorn, denied the allegations, calling them false.

In their decision, the justices ruled that the petition relied solely on media reporting, which they said does not meet the evidentiary standard required by the court. "It is a well-known and established principle that media publications do not establish a sufficient factual foundation to support claims brought before this court," the justices wrote.

The court also expressed concern about the petitioner's pattern of litigation. "We can no longer ignore the litigious conduct of the petitioner, which has filed nine requests on this matter, repetitive and essentially identical, some of them unfounded and raising considerable difficulty," the justices stated.

Following the ruling, Urich responded on social media: "Three Supreme Court justices once again rolled the ginger down the stairs and ordered him to pay 3,000 shekels. I'm donating this to arak with ice because that's what you do in summer!" The comment referenced Eliad Shraga, chairman of the Movement for Quality Government, using a nickname.