Israel Hayom has learned of two specific incidents where demands came directly from the Prime Minister's Office to cease damaging the image of the Gulf emirate, which has close ties to Hamas, through social media publications.
The first incident took place approximately three weeks after the outbreak of the war. The official English-language account of the IDF spokesperson posted a strongly worded video against Qatar on X, portraying the Gulf state as a financial backer of Hamas that facilitated the organization's military growth.
Within minutes, an urgent phone call reached IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari's office. On the line was a senior representative acting on behalf of Mossad Chief Dadi Barnea. "Remove the video against Qatar immediately," came the request – which essentially functioned as a demand. The rationale provided was clear: Israel needs Qatar as a mediator between Israel and Hamas to advance negotiations for a hostage deal. The video was promptly deleted and has not reappeared since. From that point forward, Hagari and his team avoided any criticism of Qatar. "We need them" became the guiding principle.
A second incident occurred in January 2024. A clandestine group of Israelis established an account on X called "The Qatari Project," stating their objective was "to take revenge on Qatar and the murderous criminal, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani [the Emir of Qatar], for the October 7 massacre." The account had posted only six tweets, including intimate videos and photographs of the Qatari emir, over a two-day period before suddenly ceasing all activity.
Once again, a phone call intervened – this time from what was described as the "Prime Minister's Office in Tel Aviv." The anonymous operators behind the account were instructed to immediately stop damaging Qatar's reputation. They were explicitly told, "This harms Israeli interests." The operators complied with the request and halted their campaign. While the six original tweets remain visible online, "The Qatari Project" account has been effectively silenced.
This information comes to light amid developments in the expanding "Qatargate" affair, which centers on investigations into connections between officials in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office and Qatar. As part of the ongoing investigation, two officials from the Prime Minister's Office were detained for questioning on Tuesday evening. They were subsequently released under restrictive conditions.
