JNN 8th September 2026 Doha : Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has publicly called for Israel to formally declare Qatar an “enemy state,”describing it as an enemy state rather than calling for an immediate military war.

Concurrently, current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly labeled Qatar a “hostile state” while defending past Qatari financial transfers to Gaza as humanitarian aid backed by security agencies.

Netanyahu defended Israel’s 2025 strike on Doha and called Qatar a “hostile state,”

In an interview with Israel’s i24NEWS, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected claims that Qatar had influenced Israeli policy during the war in Gaza, calling it a “hostile state” but saying it had not dictated Israeli decisions.

“Qatar is a hostile state, but Qatar is not a state that dictated anything here,” Netanyahu said.

He also referred to Israel’s attack on Doha last year, saying: “I attacked Qatar — I also bombed it.”

Later Bennett clarified in interviews that he is not advocating to bomb Qatar right away, but rather to gather intelligence and launch a concerted public opinion, economic, and diplomatic campaign.

Bennett  suggested that Israel should join forces with regional partners like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt to apply collective pressure on Doha.

Bennett accused Qatar of financing Hamas and exerting negative global influence, claiming it causes major strategic challenges for Israel.

Qatari officials and representatives have strongly pushed back against these remarks, dismissing the allegations as politically motivated disinformation campaigns and emphasizing Qatar’s ongoing role in regional mediation.

Bennett stated that officially designating Qatar as an enemy would give Israeli intelligence agencies (like the Mossad and Shin Bet) the explicit legal authority to treat the Gulf nation as a target for intelligence gathering.

Bennett has accused Qatar of causing “crazy havoc” for Israel, claiming Doha is the primary sponsor of Islamist terrorism and alleging they funded Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). He also claimed that Qatar-funded agents have infiltrated Israeli public opinion and even sat close to current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet.

Bennett’s statements coincide with a broader shift in how Israeli leadership is approaching Qatar ahead of the October elections.

Opposition Leader & Former Prime Minister Yair Lapid has similarly pushed a bill through Israel’s ministerial committee to formally designate Qatar as a hostile state, aiming to subject it to laws governing enemy nations and pushing for parallel isolation tactics in the U.S. Congress.

Qatar’s Media Attaché in the United States, Ali Al-Ansari, and Qatari officials have pushed back strongly against these statements, accusing Israeli politicians of deliberately spreading disinformation to advance their own domestic political ambitions ahead of the election cycle.

Doha has consistently maintained that its past financial aid to Gaza was entirely transparent, heavily monitored, and fully coordinated with both U.S. and Israeli security agencies for humanitarian purposes.

Analysts are of the opinion that as this is the election year, elections are just in October, and a political rhetoric is created to cover  the recent defeat of US & Isreal with Iran, as it is not a easy pill to sallow for the Israeli zionist establishment as the general public was against the war.

Now to gather public support all the contestants are playing the Nationalist card to gather the public support and at same time to create a weak enemy , so at the time of their convenience, they can disintegrate the Middle East , and target every country in isolation and can move ahead , with their plan of Greater Israel.

As for now they know that Pakistan , Iran & Saudi Arabia, are not on their immediate target list , so to choose weak targets one by one ,Qatar qualified for that being an extremely wealth progressive nation , with a weak defense system