Amid the war in Gaza, more doubt is being raised about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ties with Qatar, which hosts Hamas leadership and was a mediator with the Jewish nation’s truce negotiations with the Palestinian militant group. Reports this week have claimed that Israel and its leaders received millions of dollars in funds from the Arab nation, some of which went into helping administer Gaza, but eventually helped Hamas, according to critics.>>>CONTINUE FULL READING HERE
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The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) has released what it says are leaked letters linking payment offers to Netanyahu and his government, years ahead of the October 7 Hamas attack that started the war. This was part of some Arab nations’ efforts to influence policy in the region, which is being dubbed Project Raven.
The letters released by MEMRI add to a larger investigation into Project Raven.
Project Raven is what international media described as a massive cyber warfare and information campaign carried out on behalf of Arab countries like the UAE and Qatar. Activists, journalists, and government entities in several countries were targeted in this operation, according to the reports. Qatar is also alleged to have been part of these efforts “with the goal of toppling secular regimes” in Libya and Mali and “strengthening Islamist terrorist organisations and movements”, said MEMRI.
In MEMRI’s telling, the documents related to Project Raven revealed interference of Qatar in France, South Africa, Lebanon, and Israel through ‘significant grants to government elements, political activists, human rights organisations and sports figures’.
Payments to politicians and public figures are apparently part of the operation.
In the past, those figuring in the leaked documents related to Project Raven included former French president Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni.
It is not conclusively proven from the new material released that the Israeli PM took money from Qatar. The funds were, however, offered to him and his party, as per the letters from the Qatar government.
According to MEMRI, the payments allegedly ordered to be sent by Qatar to Netanyahu are a grant of $15million in 2012 and $50 million in 2018. The funds, MEMRI said, were intended to be for the Likud party and were “to be provided in cash” to Netanyahu.
While it released the text of relevant leaked letters, MEMRI also made it clear that the documents do not constitute evidence that the money indeed reached Netanyahu.
“The veracity of this claim can only be ascertained by a criminal investigation that will either confirm or refute it,” MEMRI said.
Israeli leaders ‘appreciated’ Qatar’s help in running Gaza
Earlier this year, the Times of Israel reported that top Israeli officials sought the financial support from Qatar and thanked the Arab nation for it.
The aid was sent by Qatar “to stabilise the humanitarian situation in Gaza in the years and months prior to Hamas’ October 7 terror onslaught,” it said in a report in March.
Among those thanking Qatar was a former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, the report claimed.
“This aid has undoubtedly played a fundamental role in achieving the continued improvement of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and ensuring stability and security in the region,” Cohen wrote in a 2020 letter to Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, as claimed by Times of Israel.
He expressed his “thanks and appreciation for the humanitarian aid provided by the State of Qatar during recent years,” to Gaza.
According to the paper, the government is criticised for the Qatari aid for Gaza, as they allege that it helped Hamas.
Netanyahu has generally kept silent on whether Qatar sent the funds to Israel, or how much.>>>CONTINUE FULL READING HERE
