Qatar’s $50,000 per Month Budget to Buy Jewish Acquiescence is Money Well Spent

Shortly after the onset of the campaign by Sunni Muslim states to isolate Qatar because of its alleged support for terrorism, The Media Line reported how Doha began paying a Jewish public relations firm a fee of $50,000 per month in order to convince Jewish ‘leaders’ to visit Qatar, while a second Jewish-owned firm was retained by Qatar’s opponents to counter Doha’s attempt to improve its image through the optics of visiting Jewish organizational heads. At the time, some unhesitatingly accepted the invitation while others adamantly refused, insisting they “would not be used by Qatar.” According to a report in the Israeli daily Haaretz, the lure of the trip has proved to be a powerful incentive, with a large number of organizational heads taking the bait. The newspaper reported on one such leader who originally dismissed the idea, explaining that he “can’t allow the imprimatur of [his organization] to be involved with the potential of legitimizing in any way Qatar’s disgraceful activities.” But apparently during the ensuing months, the appeal of the government-paid trip became too great. A significant list of center-right to right wing organizational heads have decided that their presence I Qatar would be so significant that it would motivate Qatari leadership to change their behavior.