Qatar long played double game with Israel and Gulf states, says former Israeli envoy to Doha

Qatar’s public criticism of the Abraham Accords has been called out by an Israeli politician who long worked in Doha to establish ties that he said the Gulf state was keen to make without any concessions to improve the lives of the Palestinian people.

In an interview on Saturday with Sky News Arabia, Yisrael Beiteinu Knesset member Eli Avidar, 54, who ran an Israeli trade mission in Qatar between 1999 and 2001, accused Qatar of a double standard and hypocrisy in dealing with Israel and Arab states.

The Egypt-born former diplomat stated that at the time Israel agreed with Qatar to open up relations between the two nations, the Palestinian people's plight was never raised. Doha was, he said, only interested in strengthening Qatari-Israeli relations for personal benefit.

Mr Avidar said that everyone in the Qatari government denied or were not aware of the existence of the trade office he ran in Doha, yet then prime minister Hamad bin Jassim flaunted Qatar-Israeli relations abroad.

In fact, Mr Avidar said Qatar had asked him to stay home and not speak publicly during the Organisation of the Islamic Conference – as the group was known at the time – summit in Doha in November 2000.

“Qatar lied to all Islamic countries and said that it closed the Israeli office,” he added of the unorthodox request.

“The funny thing was that when he would meet with ministers abroad and they would call me and say, ‘we met Hamad bin Jassim, he’s a real friend of Israel,’ and would thank him and describe him as a ‘respectable and well-loved man.’ That was Hamad, he would fool you with his honeyed words,” Mr Avidar said.

“But when I returned to Jerusalem, I would report that Hamad was a problem and not part of the solution.”

While Mr Avidar said that Mr bin Jassim was keen to tout his ties with Israel, he criticised the news of the Abraham Accord establishing ties between the UAE and Israel.

Mr bin Jasim then posted a series of tweets boasting of Qatar's “clandestine” relations with Israel that long preceded the Abraham Accord. "Thus, I want to recall recent times when we opened the Israeli trade office and established our relationship with Israel publicly after the Madrid Peace Conference,” he wrote.

ﻭﻫﻜﺬﺍ ﻓﺈﻧﻨﻲ ﺃﺭﻳﺪ ﺃﻥ ﺍﺳﺘﺬﻛﺮ ﺃﻭﻗﺎﺗﺎً ﻗﺮﻳﺒﺔ ﻋﻨﺪﻣﺎ ﻓﺘﺤﻨﺎ ﺍﻟﻤﻜﺘﺐ ﺍﻟﺘﺠﺎﺭﻱ ﺍﻹﺳﺮﺍﺋﻴﻠﻲ ﻭﺃﻗﻤﻨﺎ ﻣﻊ ﺇﺳﺮﺍﺋﻴﻞ ﻋﻼﻗﺘﻨﺎ ﻋﻠﻨﻴﺔ ﺑﻌﺪ ﺍﻧﻌﻘﺎﺩ ﻣﺆﺗﻤﺮ ﻣﺪﺭﻳﺪ ﻟﻠﺴﻼﻡ . ﻭﻛﺎﻥ ﻫﺪﻓﻨﺎ ﻣﻦ ﺫﻟﻚ ﺗﺸﺠﻴﻊ ﺇﺳﺮﺍﺋﻴﻞ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻹﻧﺴﺤﺎﺏ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻷﺭﺍﺿﻲ ﺍﻟﻔﻠﺴﻄﻴﻨﻴﺔ ﻭﺍﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴﺔ ﺍﻟﻤﺤﺘﻠﺔ ﺇﻟﻰ ﺣﺪﻭﺩ ﺍﻟﺮﺍﺑﻊ ﻣﻦ ﻳﻮﻧﻴﻮ / ﺣﺰﻳﺮﺍﻥ 1967

— ﺣﻤﺪ ﺑﻦ ﺟﺎﺳﻢ ﺑﻦ ﺟﺒﺮ 

Mr Avidar cited another example of a catalogue of Qatari obfuscation on Israel.

He pointed to the agreement between Mauritania and Israel to establish ties in 1999 that was heavily criticised in the Qatari press.

“The Qatari media asked ‘why are they normalising with the Zionist enemy?’ To which I said, ‘My brother, we are normalising with you and we remain in your country with your blessing,” Mr Avidar said.

According to Mr Avidar, the only time Qatar had any interest in discussing the Palestinians was when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came up with a solution to appease Hamas, which receives millions in funding from Doha, after the hardline group launched 500 rockets at Israel.

Mr Netanyahu's solution involved asking Qatar to pay for Hamas’ silence.

He said that Qatar then paid a monthly stipend of $15 million under the guise of aid for the Palestinian people, which was in fact to cover the salaries of Hamas members.

“My party will not support normalising relations with Qatar.

"Qatar is part of the problem, it is not part of the solution, and if they continue with the same policy, they will not rest or find peace in their lives," Mr Avidar said.

The former diplomat turned politician said that his interpretation of Qatar was of a country with close ties to Iran that viewed other Gulf states as the enemy.

“In order to succeed in their mission, any diplomat must ask two questions and have the two answers in hand … Who is the enemy of the state and who is the friend of the state? I searched for the answers to those two questions before I got to Doha,” he said.

“I sat for two months following the Qatari media, Al Jazeera, the Qatari newspapers, and it became clear to me that their friend is the Islamic Republic of Iran. There was no negative word against Iran, not on Al Jazeera or in any place. On the other hand, the enemy is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and I can tell you that the story has not changed until now. Qatari policy has shown that their friend is Iran and that the enemy is Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE.”

He said the 2017 move by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt to cut ties with Qatar over its meddling in the internal affairs of other nations and supporting terror groups had come “very late”.

“I was in Doha from 1999 to 2001, the same problems then are still the same problems now. Al Jazeera in the Arab Spring was responsible for the eruption of events in the Arab world, for what happened in Bahrain as well,” he said.

“The existing problem for the Gulf, all of the Middle East is Iran. It is not reasonable that Iran remains a friend to Qatar as it is setting fire to other countries in the Gulf.”

(National)