Qatar Denies Israeli Claims of Interference in Elections

Doha – Occupied Jerusalem – Agencies: Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majid Al-Ansari categorically denied yesterday allegations that Qatar intervened in the Israeli elections or funded any activities aimed at influencing their outcomes. He rejected accusations propagated by some Israeli politicians and affiliated media outlets, describing them as part of a new disinformation campaign designed to drag Qatar into Israel’s internal political disputes following the Knesset elections held on Tuesday. (See page 13)

In a statement, Al-Ansari pointed out the contradictions in these accusations, which range from claims that Qatar bought Benjamin Netanyahu’s loyalty and funded the Israeli left, to assertions that it influenced Arab voters’ ballots—as if Qatar, according to these claims, controls the entire Israeli political landscape. He affirmed that these baseless accusations combine absurdity and danger, and that the insistence on dragging Qatar’s name into the electoral discourse reflects an excessive obsession with Qatar among certain Israeli political and media circles that defies logic.

He stressed that Qatar is not a scapegoat for the political failures of some Israeli politicians, and that it would be more prudent for them to respond to their voters’ aspirations and address the consequences of their disastrous policies on the region. Al-Ansari also emphasized that any government resulting from the elections is obliged to comply with international law and resolutions of the UN Security Council, to deal seriously and honestly with the Palestinian issue, and to respect the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. He confirmed that silence would not be the strategy regarding the use of Qatar’s name to serve electoral agendas or narrow political gains.

In an attempt to block any potential cooperation between the Israeli opposition and Arab lists, Netanyahu launched a preemptive move to avoid entering a power-sharing government or losing power to the opposition. The settler right-wing coalition, led by Netanyahu, launched a wave of what was described as hysterical incitement against Qatar and Arab parties, after the two Arab lists, Joint List and United Arab List, won 19 seats in the elections, according to semi-official results.

Extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called on the General Security Service (Shabak) to arrest the leaders of Arab parties, while the Likud party claimed that the elections were stolen through foreign interference and bribery of voters in favor of Arab parties. However, the Israeli police stated that there is no investigative or intelligence data supporting these allegations. Meanwhile, Chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Judge Noam Solberg, clarified that he has no evidence to substantiate the suspicions.

For his part, Chairman of the United Arab List Mansour Abbas confirmed yesterday that the list has no connection to allegations of electoral fraud or receiving financial sums from a foreign entity, affirming that he welcomes investigations and is ready to cooperate to uncover the truth.