Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his hope on Thursday to visit the Gulf State of Qatar. The Israeli prime minister made his comment in a Twitter response to Al-Jazeera presenter Mehdi Hassan.
The comment came as part of a Twitter question and answer exercise launched by Israel’s leader for social media users to #AskNetanyahu. In answer to Hassan’s question if he would agree to appear on his Up Front TV show on Al-Jazeera English, Netanyahu replied, “I hope one day you will invite me to your headquarters in Qatar.” Mehdi Hassan is actually based in the US.
“I’m in [Washington] DC, not Qatar,” the presenter said, before asking Netanyahu, “Regarding invites, when can the Palestinian refugees come home?”
Dear @netanyahu, I've interviewed your justice & foreign ministers and your predecessor, too. Will you come on @AJUpFront too? #asknetanyahu
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) May 10, 2016
I hope one day you’ll invite me to your headquarters in Qatar. Invite Messi too. https://t.co/9vzjjCWOkt
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) May 12, 2016
I'm in DC, not Qatar. On the subject of invites, when can come the Palestinian refugees come home pls? #AskNetanyahu https://t.co/rJ0UlBonpY
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) May 12, 2016
#AskNetanyahu was bombarded by images and questions about Israel’s many violations of human rights. Netanyahu answered very few questions and in a short video announced that he was leaving the session and returning the next day; he didn’t go back.
Several activists and media outlets published reports of the exercise, including Haaretz. It was pointed out that #AskNetanyahu backfired in a big way. It is unlikely to be repeated.
Read: Twitter was invited to #AskNetanyahu – and it didn’t disappoint