Liberman Slams Qatar Cash Policy, Demands Answers on Reported Mossad Talks
Avigdor Liberman, head of the opposition Yisrael Beitenu party in Israel’s parliament, on Thursday attacked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s long-running policy of allowing Qatari cash into Gaza, saying Israel never held a serious cabinet debate on the transfers and warning that the same playbook is resurfacing after reports of a Mossad-Qatar meeting in New York last month.
Speaking at the annual conference of the Ogen social loan fund hosted by Yedioth Ahronoth, Liberman argued that the government’s approach to Gaza—meant for years to buy quiet and prevent humanitarian collapse—helped entrench Hamas and left Israel exposed ahead of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the Gaza war.
“There has never been a real discussion on the subject of transferring funds from Qatar,” Liberman said. He said Netanyahu initiated and drove the policy, and tied his own resignation as defense minister to the decision: “The only time he ever officially informed the cabinet about Qatari money flowing to Hamas was on November 13, 2018. He announced that Israel was beginning a ‘policy of arrangements’—which was simply a euphemism for Qatari money to Hamas. The next day, November 14, I resigned.”
Liberman added that he believes key decisions were handled outside formal oversight. “To the best of my knowledge, that letter was never brought to the cabinet for discussion—not then, and not later,” he said, referring to a December 2018 letter he said Netanyahu sent to Qatar requesting an increased monthly transfer.
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The criticism landed as Israeli media reported that Mossad chief David Barnea met Qatari representatives in New York in November 2025, alongside Steve Witkoff, the US president’s special envoy for the Middle East, and that four working groups were created. Liberman pressed for public disclosure: “I would be very happy if the Prime Minister’s Office or the Mossad would explain to the Israeli public exactly what was discussed and why these groups were established.” He also claimed one group addressed messaging: “They decided to establish four working groups, including one focused specifically on media and Qatar’s public image.”
He cast the reported contacts as a return to failed assumptions. “But I see that we are back to October 6,” Liberman said, adding later, “When I look at the situation, it feels like we have gone back to October 6. Once again: Qatar, Israeli–Qatari meetings, Qatari money, [Qatari envoy to the Gaza Strip] Mohammed al-Emadi, [UN envoy to the Middle East] Nickolay Mladenov—everything is the same. Hamas is strengthening. This is what ‘absolute victory’ looks like.”
In the same speech, Liberman broadened his attack to Netanyahu’s office, linking the controversy to the so-called Qatargate affair. “What we are seeing, without any doubt, is the conduct of the Prime Minister’s Office behaving like a criminal organization in every sense of the word,” he said, adding, “There are no security considerations, no concern for the national interest, no concern for citizens. Everything is subordinated to Netanyahu’s trial, to the latest poll, to media narratives, and to political interests.”
The Mossad swiftly rejected Liberman’s depiction of the New York meeting. In a statement, the intelligence agency said the claim about a Qatari communications team was “unfounded, false, and devoid of any basis.” The Mossad said the talks addressed Gaza-related issues and senior Hamas officials based in Qatar, and that the only media matter raised was a joint US-Israel demand that Qatar act against Al Jazeera’s coverage, which they said promotes hatred, antisemitism, and terrorism and spreads misinformation that fuels hostility toward Israel.
The dispute revives a central question in Israeli politics since Oct. 7: whether prewar policies that sought stability through economic relief and indirect understandings strengthened Hamas over time—and how, or whether, the government will fully examine those choices.
