A close associate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly played a direct role in coordinating Qatari cash transfers to Hamas in Gaza in recent years, with Israel’s approval.
The Saturday report by business daily TheMarker comes amid a flurry of allegations regarding what critics say were problematic ties between those around Netanyahu and the Gulf petrostate, which has played a leading role in hostage negotiations, as well as accusations that the Israeli premier helped prop up Hamas while catastrophically miscalculating the terror group’s intentions.
According to the outlet, citing an unspecified “document,” Israeli billionaire Shlomi Fogel maintained contact in the late 2010s and early 2020s with Mohammad al-Emadi, a Qatari diplomat who oversaw Doha-funded reconstruction projects in Gaza following the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas.
Al-Emadi also oversaw the deliveries of hundreds of millions of dollars in cash from Qatar to Gaza between 2018 and 2021, money approved by Israel in hopes of keeping a lid on simmering tensions in the Strip amid sky-high unemployment.
The Qatari official personally accompanied convoys bringing the money from Ben Gurion Airport to Gaza and was present when the funds were handed over to Hamas officials.
According to TheMarker, business people in Gaza repeatedly used Fogel as a go-between to relay messages to al-Emadi, pressing him to speed up the transfers, claiming that doing so would help stabilize the situation and prevent violent escalations along the border.
A source close to Fogel confirmed most of the details outlined in the document, TheMarker reported. Fogel refused to comment to TheMarker on the report while Netanyahu’s office said no Israelis were involved in the cash transfers.
Criticism over the cash transfers, which were controversial at the time, and of Netanyahu’s alleged policy of allowing Hamas to maintain rule in Gaza in exchange for calm, has ratcheted up sharply following the terror group’s October 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel.
In April 2024, a confidential report by a team of veteran US and Israeli intelligence professionals found that “Qatari funding and policies led directly to October 7.” The experts estimated that Doha provided $2 billion (NIS 7.4 billion) in total to the terror group.
Fogel first developed connections with al-Emadi in the mid-2010s through several visits to Doha, where he also met with other senior Qatari officials, according to TheMarker.
The Israeli businessman spoke openly about advancing business ventures related to Gaza, including a solar power station funded by Qatar to provide electricity to the Strip, though the projects never came to fruition.
In addition, Fogel reportedly portrayed himself as a business partner to Nabil Bouab, a Gazan businessman who owned a sewing factory that employed many Gazans and provided services to Israeli fashion companies.
TheMarker reported that several former Netanyahu aides attested to the prime minister’s close ties to Fogel, including alleged meetings at Fogel’s private residence.
“Fogel is very close to Netanyahu,” one former staffer was quoted as saying. “His close relationship with the prime minister gave him expertise in political matters.”
According to the source, Fogel would look to parlay political developments into profitable business ventures for himself. These included infrastructure projects based on the assumption that Hamas would continue ruling Gaza, aligning with Netanyahu’s policies, TheMarker said.
According to TheMarker, Fogel advocated for an Israeli strategy in interviews and conferences that sought to isolate the Palestinian Authority, preventing its international recognition as an independent state, while simultaneously supporting Gaza’s economic development through business ventures.
In a 2016 interview with Israeli business news outlet Globes, Fogel spoke about Gaza: “With barely $800 per capita GDP, there’s no doubt that two million people in the Gaza Strip will try again and again to shake the tree and disturb Israel, where per capita GDP is $37,000,” implying that an investment in Gaza’s economy would be an investment in Israel’s security.
Fogel continued, “Let’s say that tomorrow morning, we give [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas] a state. I’ve no doubt… that a large proportion of the refugees, first of all from Syria and Iraq… will start flowing into the West Bank,” adding that “we’ll find another 1-1.5 million refugees coming to live near us, and also in Rehovot and Jerusalem.”
In a subsequent interview with Globes in 2018, Fogel acknowledged his discussions with Hamas officials, stating, “When I talk to Hamas people, I tell them: I am willing to do this not because I love you, I know you want to kill us. I am only doing this so that there will be peace.”
The document expanded on Fogel’s questionable ties, revealing that he helped facilitate funding from Qatar for Hamas’s government, which was approved by Netanyahu’s government.
The Prime Minister’s Office denied that any Israeli officials were directly involved in the Qatari funding: “Another transparent attempt to fabricate a nonexistent scandal. The security agencies handled the Qatari grant, and they even recommended it. To the best of our knowledge, no other Israeli officials were involved,” it said in a statement.
“The Prime Minister has already sued [former defense minister Moshe Ya’alon] and others who claimed or hinted that he somehow received money from Qatar, and he will continue to act against anyone who spreads this lie,” the PMO added.
Netanyahu announced earlier this month that he is suing Ya’alon for comments suggesting that he received tens of millions of dollars from Qatar, amid an investigation into alleged ties between Doha and several of the prime minister’s aides, dubbed Qatargate.
Netanyahu’s former spokesman, Eli Feldstein, who was charged last November with harming national security, was reportedly paid by Doha to feed top Israeli journalists pro-Qatar stories.