In online spat with Qatari spokesman, Netanyahu says Qatar must choose between 'civilization' or ‘barbarism'

After the Qatari Foreign Ministry condemned an attack on a ship attempting to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza - calling for “those responsible to be held accountable before justice,” and urging Israel to allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized Qatar’s support for the terrorist group Hamas.

“Israel is fighting a just war with just means,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) posted on 𝕏. “After the October 7 atrocities, Prime Minister Netanyahu defined the War of Redemption as a war between civilization and barbarism.” 

“The time has come for Qatar to stop playing both sides with its double talk and decide if it's on the side of civilization or if it's on the side of Hamas barbarism,” the PMO continued. “Israel will win this just war with just means.” 

Qatar apparently blamed Israel for the attack on a ship of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which had organized the attempt to bring aid into Gaza by boat. The ship was reportedly attacked by a drone while in international waters near Malta. 

The Qatari Foreign Ministry posted a message on 𝕏 condemning that attack, as well as Israel’s targeting of Palestinian fishing vessels that attempted to venture beyond the fishing zone designated by Israel off the coast of Gaza.

The Qatari Foreign Ministry message was reposted by Dr. Majed Al Ansari, advisor to Qatar's prime minister and the official spokesperson for the foreign ministry. 

Last year, an i24 News report revealed that Ansari had previously posted tweets and written columns for news sites that glorified Hamas and its fight against Israel. 

That report was partially based on work done by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which hosts a research project called the Qatar Monitor Project – a special initiative dedicated to “documenting Qatar's ideological Islamist drive and the scope of its subversive as well as open operations and enabling terrorist organizations both in the West and in the Muslim world.” 

The site compiles information on Qatar and its leaders' ties to various terrorists and terror organizations over the years, as well as efforts to purchase political influence, primarily in Western countries.

Following the PMO statement, the Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman condemned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and accused the State of Israel of perpetrating “one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes of modern times” against residents of Gaza. The spokesman asked Netanyahu whether the “just war” had returned the hostages, or if the negotiations, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, was what resulted in the release of the Israeli hostages.

After Ansari's response, a Walla news site report in Israel claimed that Qatar had deliberately disrupted recent hostage negotiations by encouraging Hamas to reject Egypt's proposal.

According to the report, Qatar acted to prevent Egypt from resuming its traditional role as intermediary between Israel and Hamas – a role Qatar assumed after top Hamas leaders, particularly Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, began relying primarily on Qatar for ideological and financial support.

The Qatari spokesman also called for ending the war and establishing a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders “with East Jerusalem as its capital.”