Naftali Bennett Clashes with Qatar Amid Party's Poll Decline

As his party's support drops to single digits, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has taken a confrontational stance against Qatar. Bennett criticized cooperation with Qatar in a recent interview, accusing associates of Prime Minister Netanyahu of collaborating with Qatar to Israel's security detriment and vowed to designate Qatar as an enemy state.

Shortly after, a clip resurfaced from a recent interview with Qatar's Prime Minister revealing that Bennett and Yair Lapid's government knowingly facilitated the transfer of Qatari funds to Gaza. In response, Qatari authorities condemned Bennett's remarks, accusing him of spreading disinformation for personal political gain and noting this was not his first attack on Qatar to score political points.

Bennett continued his verbal attacks, holding Qatar responsible for the October 7 massacre, claiming it financed the attack and hosts terrorist leaders in Doha. He stated Qatar never condemned the massacre and celebrated it, declaring, "Qatar is an enemy, and we will declare it as such."