Qatar: ‘Ridiculous and dangerous’ to suggest Doha played role in alleged election fraud in Israel

Qatar firmly denies any interference in the Israeli election, calling such “ridiculous and dangerous” allegations “yet another disinformation campaign aiming to drag Qatar into Israeli political disputes following this week’s elections.”

“We categorically deny allegations that Qatar has interfered in Israeli elections or funded any activities intended to influence their outcome,” says Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari on X. “We reject the accusations made by certain Israeli politicians and their contacts in the media, who have launched yet another disinformation campaign aiming to drag Qatar into Israeli political disputes following this week’s elections.”

Ansari says that Israeli politicians “accuse Qatar of buying off Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli political left, and now, in this latest campaign, the Arab vote. If these claims were to be believed, Qatar would apparently own all of Israel.”

He calls the claim “ridiculous and dangerous in equal measure,” and says it “reveals an excessive obsession with our country among certain Israeli political and media figures.”

“Qatar should not be used as a scapegoat for the political failures of certain Israeli politicians,” says Mansari. “Rather than trying to shift attention onto Qatar, they would be better off focusing on their own voters, improving people’s everyday lives, and undoing the damage they’ve created in the region.”

“We reiterate that we have no involvement in Israel’s political or electoral competition,” he continues. “These are internal Israeli matters in which we do not interfere, and we will not accept any attempt to draw Qatar into its domestic political disputes.”

Acting Central Elections Committee director general Dean Livne has rejected allegations of widespread fraud in Tuesday’s election as baseless, saying the vote was conducted lawfully and that to the best of his knowledge, there is no evidence of systematic irregularities.