March 24, 2025 (EIRNS)—Yesterday Haaretz pubished a lengthy and detailed report on the Qatarigate affair in Israel, in which two aides to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are under investigation for illegal contacts with the government of Qatar. “An online and social media analysis, based on documents obtained by Haaretz, reveals the inner workings of a pro-Qatar campaign organized by key aides to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and demonstrates the narratives their firm crafted to help shift the discourse around the emirate,” Haaretz says. “The documents led to a pro-Qatar campaign that made use of fake social media profiles, so-called avatars, and even websites set up specifically for the purpose of online influence.
“The campaign documents led Haaretz and social media researchers to roughly 20 avatars, one dedicated news site and at least one blog that were deployed to counter negative discourse about Qatar—the main financial backer of the terrorist organization Hamas,” the report continues. The documents link Netanyahu’s aides, as well as others, to the online campaign, intended to help mitigate criticism at Qatar’s poor human rights record and its role as a destabilizing force in the world.
