Former Israeli PM Bennett calls for declaring Qatar ‘an enemy’, launching pressure campaign

The former Israeli prime minister said he would direct Israel’s security agencies to gather intelligence and prepare plans as part of a wider diplomatic, economic and public pressure campaign if he returns to power.Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett again stated he would declare Qatar an enemy and direct the Mossad, Shin Bet and Israeli military to prepare a plan and gather intelligence on the country.In a recent interview, Bennett said he was “not talking about tomorrow bombing Qatar”, but argued that Israel should begin treating the country as an enemy. “You gather intelligence. It’s an enemy, and we start working on it,” Bennett said.“At the end of the day, it’s a tiny place, 330,000 people, and they’re causing crazy havoc, wreaking havoc on Israel,” he added.Former Israeli PM Naftali Bennett on Qatar:I’m not talking about tomorrow bombing Qatar, but you gather intelligence. It’s an enemy and we start working on it.We begin a campaign — not necessarily a war campaign — a public opinion, economic, diplomatic campaign.And we join… pic.twitter.com/VsGzVObQi2— World Source News (@Worldsource24) September 4, 2026 Expanding on what such a policy would look like, Bennett called for pressure across diplomatic, economic and public spheres rather than relying solely on military action.He also said Israel should work with what he described as its regional “friends”, naming Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt, to increase pressure on Qatar.The comments build on Bennett’s prime declarations outlined in July, when he said to formally designate Qatar an “enemy state” if elected prime minister in Israel’s upcoming election.Bennett has repeatedly accused Qatar of financing Hamas and attempting to influence public opinion abroad. Following his earlier remarks, Qatar’s Media Attaché in the United States, Ali Al-Ansari, said Bennett was deliberately spreading disinformation about the country to advance his political ambitions.Bennett, who served as Israeli prime minister from 2021 to 2022, is seeking a return to power and has increasingly placed Qatar at the centre of his campaign.