‘Qatar is holding our hostages as much as Hamas is,’ says scholar and former MK

In an interview with the Jerusalem Post, Dr. Einat Wilf, a political scientist and former MK, slams Qatar for their sponsoring of Hamas and criticizes the US and Israel for granting them legitimacy.

By OHAD MERLIN NOVEMBER 14, 2024 17:09

Israeli political scientist and former member of Knesset Dr. Einat Wilf (photo credit: Courtesy)

In a wide-ranging interview, Israeli political scientist and former member of Knesset Dr. Einat Wilf discussed with The Jerusalem Post Qatar's destructive role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

In the interview, Wilf argued that through its support for Hamas and undermining of Israel, Qatar poses a major threat to regional stability.

Wilf began by asserting that contrary to the perception that Qatar is a mere mediator, "Qatar is not our friend. Qatar and Hamas are one and the same." 

She stressed that Qatar had provided Hamas with the economic, material, and moral means to build the army that invaded Israel on October 7th and committed the massacre, all the while maintaining the group in power in Gaza. 

"Despite the terrorist infrastructure destroyed and the many militants dead, Hamas has yet to pay a high toll for the massacre they committed,” Wilf added. “Any tunnel or military capabilities destroyed will be quickly fixed by Qatar, who is keen on keeping them in power in Gaza."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Doha, Qatar, October 24, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/Nathan Howard/Pool)

This dynamic, she explained, has prevented Hamas from truly feeling the consequences of its actions. "As long as Hamas remains in power in Gaza, we haven't achieved anything, and it will keep on terrorizing our citizens."

Wilf also discussed Qatar's broader efforts to undermine Israel through its state-owned media outlet Al Jazeera. "Al Jazeera is a crucial part of Qatar's arsenal against the political existence of Israel. The channel is quoted disproportionately by American media outlets, giving it an outsized impact, as proven by studies.”

Wilf continued: “What Qatar discovered is that antisemitism is a great way to talk to both the left and the right, and this is why it is a central element at Al-Jazeera. 

The assumption that the network is cited despite its antisemitism is not true. It is exactly the opposite; that is, they cite because of its antisemitism. 

What Qatar, through Al Jazeera, is gifting the West is the ability to cite its antisemitism without being responsible for it. That is, if Al Jazeera brings lies and quotes, then apparently, all kinds of American and British networks can say that they only quoted the so-called ‘serious’ network. It is their way of outsourcing antisemitism .”

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When asked what mistakes Israel made in relation to Qatar, Wilf answers decidedly. “Obviously, the main mistake that Israel made is to think that the mere fact that they talk to us means that they are our friends. 

They are an enemy state, and we just gave them the king’s road all the way to our border. The story of the money suitcases tells it all. 

Israel, from the Prime Minister to all the security establishment, brought Qatar in and allowed Qatar to turn Hamas into an army that threatened our existence, a real existential danger.”

‘Qatar holds our hostages’

When prompted to talk about the issue of the hostages, Wilf is especially shaken, firmly denouncing the very normalization of the mere idea that this is even a negotiable issue. 

“As if kidnapping innocent families from their beds on a Saturday morning is something to be negotiated,” she commented, pointing her criticism at both Israel and the US. 

"The Qataris call Blinken to talk about negotiations on bringing back a baby from the tunnels they helped build, and instead of slamming the phone in their face and scolding them for not pressuring Hamas to let these innocent civilians go, the US accepts Qatar's role as a ‘mediator,’ which only strengthens Hamas' position. And this is all done under the guise of foolish Israeli legitimacy."

Rather than negotiate, Dr. Wilf argued that Israel should have taken a firm stance and applied maximum pressure on Qatar to cut ties with Hamas. 

"From the very beginning, we should have said that Qatar is the enemy, not the mediator. The hostages are being held by Qatar as much as by Hamas,” she asserted.

The former Knesset member lamented Israel's failure to mobilize international opinion against Doha, which she believed would have helped bringing back the hostages sooner.

"We foolishly gave Qatar the opportunity to present itself as an honest, merciful broker, when in fact it is bankrolling the very group holding our citizens hostage."

When asked about the deal mediated by Qatar almost a year ago, which brought back women and children, Dr. Wilf commented strongly. 

“People may see this as evidence that Qatar has done something good. But no. What Qatar did was to protect Hamas in this deal, because those children, families, mothers, and elderly women that Hamas kidnapped made them live under huge image pressure, and so were Qatar. 

Muslim leaders began to come out and say ‘this is not Islam, Islam doesn't kidnap little girls, Islam doesn't kidnap old women’ and Qatar and Hamas also need support among their audiences. 

Instead of Israel taking advantage of these voices and starting a campaign saying "You want to tell us that this is not Islam? Then let everyone go" - we entered this ‘deal’ and started debating how many terrorists we should release and which indictments they face. This is what allows Hamas to continue the same demands they had on October 8, 2023.”

Wilf holds that the first deal actually freed Hamas from the huge image-related and logistical pressure they faced. 

“And in addition, as a result of this deal, we began to provide regular supplies that keep Hamas in power ever since,” she added.

So, what could have actually been done differently? According to Wilf, “Instead of inciting against the hostage families, the Israeli government should have embraced them from the start. Explained to them bravely that there is no possibility to go back to Hamas’s October 7th demands and collaborate with them to apply pressure on Qatar.”

Wilf continued passionately: “The government should have told the families: ‘In order to release your loved ones, we need your help. We need to create an equation that is reasonable and to do that; we need to apply pressure revolving around Qatar’s own image.’ They should have send the families to Western capitals, house them in hotels, and having the local Israeli embassies make sure that there is a 24/7 vigil shifts in front of Qatari embassies and consulates around the world, with pictures of the hostages.”

“By the way, I know from many sources that the Qatari ambassadors in different countries try to present themselves as very nice to the families of the hostages and make the families think that Qatar is nice to them. 

They don't understand that they are being nice to them just so that the families don't stand on the sidewalk opposite and protest in front of them,” Wilf commented, adding that in her view, the hostage families have the most important thing: “the ability to hurt Qatar in terms of its image, which is the thing that is most important to it,” as she put it.

From UNRWA to Doha

For Wilf, there are many parallels between her work on the issue of UNRWA and its ‘deliberate perpetuation of the refugee issue’ as she named it – and Qatar's role in Israel’s eyes. 

"I feel there is a natural continuity between my work on UNRWA and my focus on Qatar. In both cases, I'm trying to explain that what everyone thinks is ‘so nice’ and a supposed part of the world order from time immemorial – is in fact, a disaster and a big threat to Israel."

Wilf argued that just as Israel has given legitimacy to UNRWA's narrative around the "right of return" for Palestinian refugees, it has also legitimized Qatar's role as a mediator. 

"If Israel sees Qatar as a positive factor, then why would anyone else think differently? If we, who are trying to free the hostages, officially see Qatar as a ‘positive’ player, and we also accept the rules that we won't harm Hamas' leaders as long as they're in Qatar - then we're giving them enormous legitimacy,” she commented.

Now, Wilf is hopeful that Israel will wake up and capitalize on opportunities to counter Qatar's anti-Israel endeavors. 

"We should use this upcoming Trump administration, with all of its promising appointments, and lobby for Qatar not to have the status of a NATO ally, not to host the US military base, not to be able to fund universities and K-12 curricula. This would be threatening Doha where it most hurts them."

When asked about what Israelis can do in the Qatari context, Wilf emphasized the need to mobilize public opinion, both domestically and internationally. 

"Write to your Knesset members, raise this issue on every platform you're active on. Ask any decision maker: 'Why aren't you doing anything about Qatar?' Gradually, this discourse will build up. The more we can keep talking about this, especially in the context of the hostage families, the better."

Wilf argued that this public pressure could be the catalyst for change, drawing inspiration from the Knesset’s recently passed law to close UNRWA offices in Israel despite fierce international pressure, which led to internal procrastination on the government level. 

"The public is waking up to who the real enemies are and who we should not be cooperating with, and we are now in a dramatic moment where our institutions are less and less disconnected from where the public sentiment is."

Ultimately, Wilf stressed the urgency of addressing the Qatari threat. "As long as Qatar continues to enable Hamas and prop up its rule in Gaza, we will be stuck in a cycle of violence and instability. We can't afford to ignore this issue any longer."