‘’I think Israel made a huge mistake when it asked Qatar to act as a mediator fort he release of the hostages,’’ said Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, Amichai Chikli.
‘Qatar is an extremely dangerous and hostile state, an enemy of Israel, far more sophisticated but not less dangerous than Iran,’’ he said during a briefing for joiurnalists in Brussels organized by Europe Israel Press Association (EIPA);
‘’Qatar is home to the most influential jihadist propaganda channel called Al Jazeera. Its propaganda is broadcast worldwide in almost all languages. And it is this propaganda that ultimately drives many people in Europe onto the streets to protest against Israel,’’ Chikli added.
Asked about Qatar’s role in the negotiations for the release of the hostages, he said: ‘’I think Israel made a huge mistake when it asked Qatar to act as a mediator. I know that I am criticizing my own government with this statement. But I feel obliged to speak my mind openly here. Unlike Egypt or Saudi Arabia, I do not see Qatar as an honest broker. Qatar is the most important source of funding for Hamas. Qatar was therefore involved in the massacres of October 7. Qatar is also a threat to European countries by buying mosques or investing money in other things.’’
‘’Qatar is a Sunni state linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, Iran is a Shiite state but they are both part of the radical islam. But I want to emphasize that we are not at war with Muslims, on the contrary, we are striving for peace with moderate Islamic countries. We have already achieved great successes with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco and we will continue to do so despite Iran,’’ the minister concluded.