Ex-Mossad chief says Israel should stop criticising mediator Qatar

Yossi Cohen, the former head of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, has urged officials from the occupation state to refrain from publicly criticising Qatar.

The Gulf state is currently mediating talks aimed at brokering a ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian resistance amid the former’s ongoing genocidal war on Gaza.

In an interview with Army Radio, Cohen says that Israel “will have to pay anyway” a high price for any such deal, “so let’s pay it today from the start for everyone, and cut down the inhumane time the hostages are spending in Gaza.”

The Times of Israel notes that the former Mossad chief is a confidante of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has been vocal in criticising Doha in recent weeks while also being accused of prioritising his political career over saving lives of his own citizens.

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On Qatar, Cohen was quoted as further stating that: “this is the only country which can bring a deal at the moment. Publicly quarrelling with it is wrong, and we need to act wisely. Any criticism of Qatar at this point in time needs to be stopped.”

Last week Qatar said it was “appalled” by remarks made by Netanyahu in a leaked recording in which he labelled Doha’s mediation efforts as “problematic.” In the audio broadcast by Israeli TV, the Israeli prime minister can be heard telling the families of Israeli captives in Gaza that “you don’t hear me thanking Qatar…They have leverage… because they finance [Hamas].”

The spokesman for Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr Majed Al Ansari said Netanyahu’s comments were “irresponsible and destructive to the efforts to save innocent lives, but are not surprising.”