Report: Israel halting all defense exports to Qatar, views it as ‘an evil state’

Israel is halting all defense exports to Qatar, viewing the Gulf nation as “an evil state that works against Israel,” Channel 12 reports.

The report says that while previous exports were approved by the prime minister and the Foreign Ministry body that green-lights defense exports, a decision has now been made to end all future sales.

The report also says that Israel will halt all maintenance and support efforts related to previous sales.

Israel does not have diplomatic relations with Qatar and has not openly sold any systems to it directly. However, Israel has reportedly sold Qatar hundreds of millions of dollars worth of equipment that was included in larger American-delivered systems, including air defense, night-sight and advanced avionics.

According to the report, the decision was recently made in light of the activities of Qatar, which has for many years hosted leaders of Hamas and which played a key role in mediating between Israel and the terror group. Qatar has also been implicated in attempts to sway Israeli public opinion, including by paying aides to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.