Rising Israeli Voices Against Qatar And Its Sponsorship Of Islamist Terrorism – Four Challenges For The Trump Administration

Finally, after years of silence over Qatari support for Hamas-ruled Gaza and a year and half after the war started, voices are rising in the Israeli media against Qatar. The goal of these voices, which are political in nature, is primarily to go against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who led the Qatari involvement in Gaza and the building of Hamas' power, including 500 kilometers of tunnels, thousands of rocket, and 30,000 fighters (murderers).[1]

Over the years, all Israeli politicians and the upper echelons of the IDF supported Prime Minister Netanyahu's policy – one exception was Avigdor Lieberman who resigned over the policy in 2018. Among former intelligence circles, academia, and research institutes, MEMRI was the only one who consistently for years harshly criticized allowing Qatar to send money to Hamas-ruled Gaza and warned of an upcoming explosion. One case in point is the 2021 interview I gave titled "The Blood Wedding Of Netanyahu And Qatar."[2]

Among individual researchers, it was Dr. Yossi Shain, the Romulo Betancourt Professor of Political Science at Tel Aviv University, who criticized the two-facedness of Qatar.[3]

Among Israeli officials, Ambassador Ron Prosor was the only one who criticized Qatar's involvement in supporting international terrorism and allowing the government policy of pushing money in this direction. Prosor wrote in the New York Times: "In recent years, the sheikhs of Doha, Qatar's capital, have funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to Gaza. Every one of Hamas's tunnels and rockets might as well have had a sign that read 'Made possible through a kind donation from the emir of Qatar.'"[4]

One section that is silent about Qatar is the Israeli government, Netanyahu, who does not criticize Qatar, and his ministers and assistants, some of whom were allegedly working for Qatar while serving in the prime minister's office. Among the politicians who have lately raised their voices were the ministers Nir Barkat, Eli Cohen, and Amichai Chikli.

More on this subject will be published in a separate report, which will cite all the Israeli military and political leadership, as well as research institutes and individual public figures who supported Netanyahu's policy in video, audio, and print.

The new Israeli approach is aimed at targeting Netanyahu more than aimed at targeting the irrational and delusional concept dominant in the Israeli public that the fanatic religious ideology of Hamas could be bought with money.

The Qatari Reaction

The Qatari ruling family, realizing this new development and worrying about its consequences, published a document[5] describing its support of Hamas as a process approved and moreover sought by Israel, the U.S., Europe, and Tony Blair, who all, according to the article, supported relations with Hamas, prompting, as the ruling family claim, a process of moderation in Hamas' political positions – a claim totally disproven by the October 7 attacks, with their goal of freeing Palestine from the river to the sea.

One can assess that the statement of defence of Qatar represents growing worries in the Qatari ruling family that once Qatar's true role in the buildup of Hamas' power and the subsequent massacre on October 7 of 1,200 Israeli civilians – including men, women, and children – is revealed, this will endanger not only the survival of the Qatari ruling family but its very existence.

Furthermore, one can assess once Qatar's true role in the 9/11 attacks, with its nearly 3,000 victims, as well as other cases of anti-American terrorism, sponsored by 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a former Qatari government employee now awaiting trial in Guantánamo Bay, is revealed, it will endanger not only the survival of the Qatari regime, but also its very existence.

It should be mentioned that MEMRI is the only research institute that points to Qatar's responsibility for the 9/11 attacks and many other anti-American attacks on the basis of American government documents and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's own admission.[6]

Qatar cannot defend itself with the U.S.-Qatar Law Enforcement Cooperation Agreement signed with the Biden administration in its last month because it is an agreement that compromises American citizens' security and rights.[7] Nor can Qatar defend itself on the basis of the visa waver designation with the Biden administration in its last month since it was based on a flawed process of checking Qatar's eligibility as a counter-terrorism state[8]  since, as everyone knows by now, they supported not only Hamas and the Taliban but also all Islamist terrorist organizations and movements (For more on this subject, see the Qatar Monitoring Project and its seven weeklies).[9] In addition, Qatar has not explained the fact that Al-Jazeera ignored a DOJ order to register under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA)[10] due to Qatari government ownership of Al-Jazeera. Nor does it have an explanation for its contracting of former CIA operative Kevin Chalker to spy on American legislators – Senator Tom Cotton, Senator Ted Cruz, and Representative Mario Diaz-Balart, as well as former representative Ed Royce – who oppose Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.[11]

*Yigal Carmon is president and founder of MEMRI.