Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu testified Monday in a probe involving alleged payments from Qatar to some of his aides, an investigation he denounced as politically motivated.

Israeli police arrested the prime minister's two long-serving aides, Yonatan Urich and Eli Feldstein earlier on Monday, for their alleged involvement in the case local media have dubbed "Qatargate".

The arrests ratchet up political tensions in the country, where the government is trying to fire both the domestic security chief and attorney general, while expanding the power of politicians over the appointment of judges.

The moves have reignited a protest movement in Israel, coinciding with the government's resumption of fighting this month in the Gaza Strip.

Feldstein had separately been arrested late last year and released into house arrest on accusations of leaking a classified document related to........

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