Did JPost's editor-in-chief Zvika Klein take money from Qatar?!

Zvika Klein is the editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post, an award-winning journalist specializing in Jewish diaspora affairs. Before his current role, he served as a reporter on Jewish diaspora issues for the newspaper Makor Rishon for a decade and also wrote for Maariv. He has received numerous awards, including the B’nai B’rith Journalism Award in 2013 and 2019, and the JDC 2014 Smolar Award for Journalism.

Klein is known for his stories about Jewish life in the diaspora, particularly his 2015 article "10 Hours of Fear and Hatred in Paris," which went viral. In a video he uploaded, he walked for 10 hours in Paris wearing a kippah, documenting the antisemitic responses he received, which garnered millions of views. He also served as an advisor to the President’s Office on Israel-Diaspora relations.

His Connection to the "Qatargate" Affair

The "Qatargate" affair in Israel is a political scandal involving allegations of financial ties and political influence between the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Qatar, with a focus on payments to members of his media team. The affair began following reports of commercial connections between Netanyahu’s media team members and actors from the state of Qatar, including Eli Feldstein, a member of the media team who was under house arrest for leaking classified documents to the German newspaper Bild.

Klein reported on the affair in several articles in The Jerusalem Post, including one about a gag order imposed on the investigation ("Israeli Court Issues Gag Order on ‘Qatargate’ Investigation") and another about the expansion of the probe ("Israel Expands ‘Qatargate’ Probe on Netanyahu’s Aides"). Additionally, he conducted interviews with senior Qatari officials, as noted in his LinkedIn post from April 4, 2024, where he reported spending over 15 hours interviewing Qatari officials who shared with him the complex history of Qatar-Israel relations.

An article in Jewish Insider notes that Klein visited Qatar last year and wrote positive articles about it, and Eli Feldstein, a suspect in the affair, arranged interviews for him on Israeli news programs following the visit. This raises questions about whether his reporting was influenced or coordinated by someone involved in the affair, but there is no evidence that Klein himself is accused of anything.

Potential Impact and Reactions

The connection between Klein and Feldstein may suggest that his reporting was used to promote Qatar’s interests, but there is no evidence that Klein received improper benefits or participated in illegal activity. As the editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post, he is responsible for the journalistic coverage of the affair, and his reports appear to be part of his professional role. There are no direct statements from him regarding allegations about his ties to Feldstein or his personal role in the affair, but he continues to cover the issue.