Liberman claims Mossad helping rehabilitate Qatar’s image; Mossad: Totally false

Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman alleges that the Mossad has been working in secret to rehabilitate Qatar’s image.

In comments at the Ogen Conference organized by Yedioth Ahronoth, Liberman asserts without evidence that Mossad chief David Barnea “held a meeting about a month ago with the Qataris in New York.”

In that meeting, Liberman claims, “they decided to establish four ‘working committees,’ including a committee focused on the issue of media and the Qataris’ image.”

In a statement attributed to the Mossad cited in Hebrew media outlets, the agency flatly denies the assertion, calling it “unfounded, false and devoid of any basis.”

The ongoing Qatargate scandal centers on the allegation that several top aides to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received money to promote Qatar while employed by the state.

Liberman, a former defense minister, asserts that Israel has “returned to October 6 — the same formula, the same Qatari intermediaries, and Hamas only grows stronger.”

The Mossad statement asserts that Barnea did meet in New York with Qatari officials as well as US special envoy Steve Witkoff, and “dealt with a series of significant issues related to the Middle East and the Gaza Strip, including senior Hamas figures hosted by Qatar.”

The only issue related to the media that arose in the meeting, the agency asserts, was a demand that Qatar act against the Al Jazeera network, “which incites hatred, antisemitism, and terrorism.”