Channel 14 commentator Yaakov Bardugo, who is considered a close confidant of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, revealed on Sunday evening that a deal to release about ten Israeli hostages that was already closed was thwarted by Qatar.

“The time has come to declare Qatar as an enemy state of the Jewish people,” Bardugo said.

These remarks follow the Prime Minister’s Office’s unusual statements against Qatar in recent days. The Prime Minister’s Office published a rare official statement on Motzei Shabbos, saying: “The time has come for Qatar to stop playing both sides with its double talk and decide if it’s on the side of civilization or if it’s on the side of Hamas barbarism. Israel will win this just war with just means.”

Netanyahu’s office chose to publish the message in English and publicly for the first time, hinting that Qatar is undermining the efforts to release the hostages. The attack sparked a strong response from the Qatari Foreign Ministry, which strongly condemned the remarks.

Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari called Netanyahu’s statements “inflammatory” and “far from meeting the basic standards of political responsibility.” He claimed that Qatar is working “in coordination with its partners to end the fighting and return the hostages,” and asked sarcastically whether the release of 138 hostages so far was thanks to mediation or thanks to bombings.

Bardugo’s words echo the message of the Prime Minister’s Office and exacerbate the tone: Qatar is not only not helpful as a mediator with Hamas but actively sabotages possible understandings with the terror group.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)