Israeli political figures have registered their displeasure after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized to Qatar over the airstrike in Doha, the first on a Gulf Cooperation Council member.
The bombing of “the masterminds of the October 7 massacre” was an “important and profoundly moral strike,” National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir asserted on Monday.
Ben-Gvir noted that whoever sends monsters to burn babies, rape women, and abduct elderly women must know that there is no place in the world that is safe for them.
“Qatar is a state that supports terror, funds terror, and incites terror,” the minister declared. “No amount of money will wash the terror from its hands.”
Avigdor Liberman, leader of conservative party Yisrael Beiteinu, slammed Netanyahu for apologizing to Qatar, which he chastised for not condemning the massacre in 2023.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid told the PM to seek Israelis’ pardon for “the attempt to promote the draft evasion law during wartime and for the establishment of the most destructive government.”
On September 9, the Israel Defense Forces conducted an airstrike targeting the location of a Qatari government residential complex in the Leqtaifiya district of Doha.
The air assault killed a Qatari serviceman and lower-level members of Hamas, including Humam al-Hayya, son of its leader in the Gaza Strip, Khalil al-Hayya.
During his phone call with Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Netanyahu said his country regrets the death of the Qatari citizen, stating that: “Israel was targeting Hamas, not Qataris.”
Netanyahu assured Al Thani that Israel has no plan to violate Qatar again in the future, a commitment he has made to President Donald Trump.
The PM admitted that both countries have resentment against each other, and confirmed his acceptance of President Trump’s idea to establish a trilateral group “to address outstanding grievances.”
