Former prime minister Naftali Bennett described Qatar as “more dangerous” to Israel at the moment than Iran during an interview aired Saturday, while again vowing to declare the Gulf emirate an enemy state if elected into government later this year.

Speaking to Channel 12’s Meet the Press, the Together party leader explained his reasoning, saying that “with Iran, everyone knows that [it says], ‘We’ll destroy Israel.'”

But Qatar, he said, “funded the Nukhba terrorists of October 7 [2023]… Qatar operates Al Jazeera, which is the most poisonous cancer hurting us… Qatar reaches places of influence in American universities… And most importantly, [it has access] to the most sacred place for the security of Israel — that is the office of the prime minister of Israel.”

This was an apparent reference to the so-called Qatargate scandal, in which former and current aides to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, including senior aide Jonatan Urich, are alleged to have taken money to spearhead a public relations campaign to cast Qatar in a positive light for over a year after the October 7 Hamas onslaught.

Qatar “works against us and poisons us from within,” Bennett said, fuming that Israel does not define Qatar as an enemy state.

Therefore, “according to the law today, anybody can work for Qatar. You can be an agent for Qatar,” he said. “The most dangerous enemy to Israel is not defined as an enemy [state].”

Many in Israel are on Qatar’s payroll, he claimed. “There are research institutes in Israel, there are influencers in Israel, and maybe also officials in Israel who are on Qatar’s payroll.”

“In the next government, we will define Qatar as an enemy,” he vowed, saying that it is “unforgivable” that this is not already the case.

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