Former Israeli PM Naftali Bennett calls Qatar more dangerous for Israel than Iran, calls Doha 'most dangerous enemy'

Indian news agency UNI India reported in early August 2026 that former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett delivered some of his strongest condemnation yet of Qatar, calling the Gulf state Israel's 'most dangerous enemy' and asserting it is currently more dangerous to Israel than Iran. The international coverage of Bennett's remarks highlights the global significance of his escalating rhetoric against Doha. Bennett accused Qatar of directly funding the Nukhba force, the elite Hamas unit that carried out the October 7, 2023 attacks, making the Gulf state materially complicit in the massacre. He described Al Jazeera as a 'poisonous cancer' and accused Qatar of using the network as a global propaganda instrument to spread anti-Israel disinformation. Bennett also pointed to Qatar's extensive influence operations in American universities, where billions in funding have reshaped Middle East studies and campus discourse. The Qatargate scandal was central to his argument, with Bennett alleging that Qatar had gained improper access to the Israeli Prime Minister's office through financial relationships with senior aides. He vowed to formally declare Qatar an enemy state if re-elected, a designation that would fundamentally alter Israel's relationship with the Gulf emirate that has long been tolerated as a mediator despite its support for Hamas and other extremist groups.