Qatar rejects Netanyahu UN claim, says Israel deflecting from Gaza

Qatar's Foreign Ministry on Thursday categorically rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's accusation that Doha runs influence campaigns against Israel, calling the claim an attempt to deflect attention from atrocities in the occupied Palestinian territories. The rebuttal came after Netanyahu told the UN General Assembly that Qatar was conducting operations to sway public opinion against Israel.

"We categorically reject Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s accusation, made in his address to the UN General Assembly, that the State of Qatar is conducting a campaign to influence public opinion against Israel," Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said in a statement. "This continuing rhetoric against Qatar is nothing more than an attempt to divert attention from the attrocities committed by his government in the occupied Palestinian territories and their grave humanitarian consequence," he added.

'Insult to awareness'

Al-Ansari dismissed suggestions that mounting criticism of Israel among young people globally results from organized influence operations. “Reducing the growing shift in global public opinion, particularly among young people, to allegations of ‘influence campaigns’ is an insult to the awareness and judgment of a generation that is witnessing, in real time and before the entire world, what is taking place on the ground and forming its views accordingly,” he said.

"Attempts to hold Qatar, or anyone else, responsible for a global shift in public opinion shaped by what people themselves are witnessing are no longer persuasive," the spokesman said. He urged Israel to change its policies, respect international law and take responsibility for its actions rather than blaming external actors.