Will Qatar fund Benjamin Netanyahu in this election too?

Israel’s strike on a military base near the Syrian city of Idlib occupied a prominent place on the agenda of Türkiye, the Middle East, and Arab nations. Official statements followed in quick succession. The US Ambassador to Türkiye and Special Envoy for Syria and Iraq, Tom Barrack, also drew attention with his bizarre remarks and his proposal to establish a tripartite security mechanism between Türkiye, Syria, and Israel.

Israel must be condemned in the strongest possible terms, and the harshest reactions must be delivered. Of this, there is no doubt.

Yet how sincere are the Arab states voicing these reactions? How consistent are they? How courageous? How willing are they to take steps that carry genuine deterrent power and impose real sanctions? We must, of course, reflect upon the answers to these questions.

For we know that certain Arab nations maintain intense, deep, and intricate relations with Israel. We need look no further. We recall, for instance, that Qatar, with which Türkiye also maintains very close ties, provided Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with $15 million in the 2012 elections and $50 million in the 2018 elections to finance his political campaigns. Indeed, this funding is continually kept on the agenda by the opposition in Israeli domestic politics. It is well known that during that period, Netanyahu gave a statement to the police regarding the funds, his advisers who received the money were arrested, audio recordings and confessions surfaced, and Netanyahu’s dismissal of the affair as “a political plot against me” failed completely to convince.

The truly remarkable aspect lies here: this affair preoccupied the Israeli public for days and became the foremost item on the political agenda. Yet in Qatar, across the broader Arab world, throughout the Islamic world, and in Türkiye, the matter received scant attention. Only a handful of voices raised the issue or expressed outrage that millions of dollars were channelled to such a killer, such a perpetrator committing the crime of genocide in Palestine, to fund his election campaigns; even their voices were barely heard.

Let us now speak frankly. With the Islamic world and the Arab nations in this state, who can reasonably expect Israel to take a step back regarding Palestine? Who can remain optimistic about a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, that recognizes the independence, integrity, and sovereignty of Palestine? Who can genuinely believe that Arab states are determined, consistent, valiant, and sincere on the Palestinian question? While the silence of Islamist and conservative-pious circles regarding Qatar’s financial assistance remains plain for all to see, who can be convinced that demonstrations, rallies, and press conferences concerning Gaza and Palestine will yield tangible results? Who, what power, or which Arab state can sustain the hopes of the oppressed, sorrowful, and aggrieved Palestinian people? Qatar? Saudi Arabia? The United Arab Emirates? Egypt? Jordan?

Nor should we forget that elections will be held in Israel on 27 October. Benjamin Netanyahu is escalating his aggression and recklessness, seeking both to salvage his waning poll numbers and reputation and to shift the political agenda by emphasizing securitist policies and external threats. Heavily worn down by corruption allegations against himself and his wife, Netanyahu cannot leverage security policies and military measures as effortlessly as before, given that his primary opponent, former Chief of General Staff Gadi Eizenkot, leaves him on weak footing against a military rival. Yet despite such corruption, attrition, genocide, and bloodshed, Netanyahu appears to maintain his grip on his party; indeed, most candidates who prevailed in the primaries are politicians in his close circle.

Qatar, which enjoys considerable admiration and esteem in our country, not only backs Benjamin Netanyahu in domestic Israeli politics but also conducts joint military drills in the Eastern Mediterranean with the US, France, and Greece; Israel takes part in these exercises as well.

Let us admit that Qatar cares neither for the Palestinian cause nor for the innocent Muslims slaughtered in Gaza. It values neither the Islamic world nor Arab unity. It neither takes into account the sensitivities, priorities, and interests of Türkiye, nor does it share Türkiye’s anxieties and concerns.