Mossad publicly attacks Qatar in response to Lieberman

The Mossad issued a public and sharp response to the statements of Yisrael Beiteinu party leader Avigdor Lieberman, in a step considered exceptional on both political and security levels, and opened the door to an unprecedented attack from the intelligence agency on the state of Qatar.

Lieberman had directed accusations at the Mossad during a conference in Tel Aviv, speaking about what he called a "media group" dedicated to improving Qatar's image, and indicated that these understandings were not presented to the cabinet or the subcommittee on intelligence.

According to the Mossad's statement, Qatar does not merely support a channel that the agency described as "encouraging hatred, anti-Semitism, and terrorism," but also works to spread systematic incitement against the occupation worldwide, through multiple platforms.

This escalation came after Lieberman's statements, which aroused anger within the occupation's security establishment, as "the Mossad felt that the prevailing impression suggests that it had been protecting Qatar throughout the past years or defending its integrity" according to Hebrew newspapers.

The Mossad's statement said "it is fully aware of the negative role played by Qatar, and deals with it as a hostile state that hosts terrorist elements and funds anti-Semitic incitement activities in universities, through networks linked to the Muslim Brotherhood" according to its claim.

It indicated that "it maintained public silence, acted responsibly, and placed the hostage issue at the forefront of its priorities, which is a decisive factor in continuing communication with Doha."

It added: "Qatar was the most effective mediator in hostage exchange deal negotiations, which led to avoiding any public steps that could fail these efforts."

The Mossad said in its statement that "it opposed closing the offices of a channel in Israel, fearing that it would negatively affect Qatari mediation in the hostage file, and saw the necessity of postponing it until after their return, given Qatar's influence on Hamas."