Naftali Bennett urges campaign against Qatar, calls it 'enemy' again

Former Israeli prime minister, Naftali Bennett, has once again branded Qatar an "enemy," repeating his call for Israel to take action against it. "I’m not talking about tomorrow bombing Qatar, but you gather intelligence. It’s an enemy and we start working on it," Bennett said in an interview. He called for a campaign, "not necessarily a war campaign, a public opinion, economic, diplomatic campaign" against the Gulf state, which brokered the ceasefire in Gaza. "And we join forces with our friends in the region, Saudis, Emirates, Egypt, etc., to pressure Qatar," he 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," Bennett said. Last month, Bennett has vowed to declare Qatar as an “enemy” if elected into government later this year, saying “it is unforgivable” that this is not already the case. In an interview with Channel 12, Bennett described Qatar as “more dangerous” to Israel at the moment than Iran. “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,” he said. "Qatar works against us and poisons us from within,” Bennett said, fuming that Israel does not define Qatar as an enemy state.