Report: Pro-Qatar influence campaign at heart of Qatargate affair continued after Oct. 7

An online influence campaign to improve Qatar’s image in Israel and abroad that was produced and advanced by key suspects in the Qatargate affair continued even after the October 7 Hamas atrocities in 2023, Haaretz reports.

The campaign was allegedly run by Perception, a company owned by former Likud adviser Israel Einhorn, who brought in Jonatan Urich, a close aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and a central suspect in the Qatargate investigation.

The campaign used fake news websites and apparently fake social media accounts to spread curated messages about Qatar’s positive role in the Middle East, including following the October 7 invasion and massacres, when such items denied Doha’s close ties to Hamas and its funding for the terror group, the Haaretz report says.

Dozens of pro-Qatar articles and social media entries were posted on two fake news websites and social media platforms as part of this campaign, which is now the focus of the criminal investigation into the connection of Netanyahu’s aides with Doha.