Amid allegations of interference in Israel's elections, Qatar on Thursday said it should not be “used as a scapegoat for the political failures of certain Israeli politicians.
"We reject the accusations made by certain Israeli politicians and their contacts in the media, who have launched yet another disinformation campaign aiming to drag Qatar into Israeli political disputes following this week's elections," said Majed Al Ansari, the official spokesperson for Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"They accuse Qatar of buying off Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli political left and now, in this latest campaign, the Arab vote. If these claims were to be believed, Qatar would apparently own all of Israel," added Al Ansari.
Calling the allegations "ridiculous and dangerous in equal measure", he said it shows that Israeli politicians are excessively obsessed with Qatar.
This comes after Israeli security agency Shin Bet ordered an investigation into alleged foreign funds funnelled into the country to influence Arab voters. Arab parties collectively secured 19 seats amid high voting among Arab Israelis while the main coalitions failed to ensure a simple majority of 61 seats in 120-seat Knesset.
While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party won 53 seats, his rival Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party bagged 48 seats. The final elections results are scheduled to be declared on November 4.
Amid this stalemate in domestic politics, Israel's Central Elections Committee chairman Justice Noam Sohlberg directed an investigation to look into involvement of foreign entities trying to influence the country's Arab communities.
Earlier in the day, Netanyahu alleged that the record votes secured by the Arab parties were driven party by voter fraud. "The Ra'amgate affair is an earthquake. They stole the elections in Israel!" Netanyahu wrote, targeting the Arab-led Ra'am (the United Arab List) and the Joint List alliance.
