Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Monday at the INSS conference that he will declare Qatar an enemy state in the next government, calling it 'a cancer that sends metastases to the West and even to the Prime Minister's office.' He also stated that if a basic inquiry committee into October 7 had been established, one of its first conclusions would be that Qatar is an enemy state. (N12)
Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett escalated his rhetoric against Qatar on Monday at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) conference, calling it 'a cancer that sends metastases to the West and even to the Prime Minister's office.' According to N12, Bennett pledged to declare Qatar an enemy state in the next government he leads, and argued that a basic state inquiry into the October 7 massacre would have identified Qatar as an enemy state. The remarks add a direct link between the October 7 massacre and Qatar's role, a connection Bennett had not previously made in such explicit terms.
As The Zioneer reported earlier Monday (Mon 11:48 Jerusalem), Bennett had already stated at the same conference that he would declare Qatar an enemy state because of its funding of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). He also described Qatar as a 'violent anti-Semitic cancer' that financed Hamas, the IRGC, and Jabhat al-Nusra. The new comments expand on that theme, using the 'cancer' metaphor more prominently and explicitly tying Qatar to the October 7 massacre, suggesting that an official inquiry would have arrived at the same conclusion.
Bennett's criticism of Qatar fits into his broader positioning as a security-focused alternative to the current government. As The Zioneer has reported in recent weeks, Bennett has accused the Netanyahu-led coalition of abandoning the IDF and failing to establish a proper state commission of inquiry into the October 7 massacre. He has also vowed to cancel coalition laws and probe the government's post-October 7 actions. His remarks on Qatar reflect a consistent line of argument that Doha's influence in Gaza and its ties to the IRGC constitute a strategic threat to Israel.
Bennett's declaration remains conditional on his return to power. The current government has not declared Qatar an enemy state, and the Prime Minister's office has not responded to Bennett's latest comments. The Zioneer will continue to track developments in this story.
4 developments
- StrongBennett accuses Qatar of 'metastasizing' to the West and the Prime Minister's office
- StrongFormer PM Bennett: Israel has a clear strategic plan to topple the Iranian regime
- DevelopingBennett: Anti-Zionist state emerging within Israel, state-funded
- DevelopingBennett says Israel smuggled Starlink into Iran; effort halted by current government
Source and signal
- Open-source intake