Families of hostages still held captive by Hamas have denied leaking an audio of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lambasting Qatar earlier this week.
Qatar has played a key role in arranging hostage releases, with Israel and Hamas only negotiating indirectly over releasing the over 130 hostages still remaining in Gaza.
“You haven't seen me thank Qatar, have you noticed? I haven't thanked Qatar. Why? Because Qatar, to me, is no different in essence from the U.N., from the Red Cross and in a way it's even more problematic,” Netanyahu said, according to leaked audio aired on Channel 12 allegedly recorded during a closed-door meeting with hostages’ families. “However, I'm willing to use any mediator now who can help me bring them home.”
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The Prime Minister’s office has blamed the leak of the damaging remarks on the hostage families.
Hostages’ families, through a spokesperson, denied leaking anything.
“All conversations that take place in meetings with the Prime Minister are recorded by his office and his associates present at the meeting,” the spokesperson said. “The families participating in the meeting had their phones taken at the entrance.”
The hostages’ families said the incident is a “grave issue that indicates a loss of control.”
Netanyahu’s criticism of Qatar comes at a tense time loaded with questions about whether the Israeli government, Qatar, Egypt, and the United States will be able to reach a new hostage deal. Negotiations have been stalled for weeks since the previous hostage release last year, and Netanyahu’s sniping threatens to throw potential progress into further disarray.
Some proposals reportedly circulating in recent days have included proposals to pause fighting for one or two months to allow hostages to be saved.
Qatar has said Netanyahu’s remarks are undermining negotiations.
“We are appalled by the alleged remarks attributed to the Israeli Prime Minister in various media reports about Qatar's mediation role,” Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson, Majed Al Ansari, said. “If the reported remarks are found to be true, the Israeli PM would only be obstructing and undermining the mediation process, for reasons that appear to serve his political career instead of prioritizing saving innocent lives, including Israeli hostages.”
Netanyahu also said he had become “very angry” over the Biden administration’s decision to extend the U.S. military’s presence in Qatar at the Al Udeid Air Base earlier his month.
Qatar urged Netanyahu to stop worrying about Qatari-U.S. relations and instead start thinking more carefully about how to release the hostages.
“Instead of concerning himself with Qatar's strategic relations with the United States, we hope Netanyahu decides to operate in good faith and concentrate on the release of the hostages.”
The Biden administration has defended Qatar in recent days, noting that Qatar is an “integral” partner in working towards bringing home the hostages safely.
“Qatar has been an integral, irreplaceable, key regional partner, not just as it relates to this current ongoing conflict, but other priorities that the United States has had in the region,” Deputy State Department Spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters Thursday.
The incident threatens to throw a wedge in hostage negotiations at a time when families of hostages and members of Netanyahu’s war cabinet have been increasingly vocal about criticizing Netanyahu’s approach to releasing hostages.
Families of hostages told The Daily Beast they have grown increasingly desperate and are willing to take disruptive measures, like storming the Knesset or blocking highways, to demand that Netanyahu prioritize hostage releases over war aims like eliminating Hamas.
