Introduction
On December 22, 2023, I published a report on Qatari activity in the West and in the Arab and Muslim world, with focus on payments allegedly made to various figures with the aim of promoting Qatar's policies (See: MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis Series No. 1734 - 'Project Raven' – The Origin Of The Qatari Government Letters Leak – December 22, 2023).
The fifth section of that report deals with "the Israeli angle," namely with alleged payments made by Qatar to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu: a grant of $15 million in 2012 and a grant of $50 million in 2018. According to the leaked documents, photos of which were presented in the report, the funds were intended for the Likud bloc and were to be provided in cash to Netanyahu.
In the months since the publication of that report further documents have come to light: Qatari ones, which will be presented below, and Jordanian ones that will be presented in upcoming reports. The Qatari documents are:
–A letter classified "top secret" from then Qatari prime minister and foreign minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Aal Thani to then economy and finance minister Yousef Husain Kamal in which the prime minister explains the decision of the Qatari Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Aal Thani, to pay Netanyahu a grant of $50 million.
–A letter from then economy and finance minister Yousef Husain Kamal stating that the money had been transferred to Netanyahu in cash by means of Qatar's State Security Service.
Kamal's letter notes that Qatar's attempt to make a formal bank transfer via the World Vision organization had been unsuccessful. According to the Jordanian documents that will be published at a later date, the bank transfer via the World Vision organization and the HSBC bank in Amman was rejected by the Jordanian authorities (specifically by Jordan's Anti Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing Unit) on the grounds that the money was intended "to finance suspicious organizations, including Hamas, in collaboration with Binyamin Netanyahu, by means of other bank accounts."
It should be stressed that these Qatari documents, in and of themselves, do not constitute evidence that the money indeed reached Binyamin Netanyahu, as they claim. The veracity of this claim can only be ascertained by a criminal investigation that will either confirm or refute it.
Below are translations and photos of the two Qatari letters.
State of Qatar
Top Secret
No. M.R.W.S. 2159/19/42/2021
Doha: Sha'ban 5, 1433 A.H.
June 25, 2012
Instruction for immediate implementation of financial directives
To his Excellency Yousef Husain Kamal, Minister of Economy and Finance
Greetings,
We, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Aal Thani, wish to inform you of the instructions of His Highness, the beloved Emir of the land, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Aal Thani, according to which we are to cooperate with Mr. Binyamin Netanyahu, the leader of the Likud Party, in order to achieve political aims that will satisfy all sides. To this end the payment of a special sum to Mr. Binyamin Netanyahu has been approved, [a sum of] $50,000,000 US dollars, in order to enhance the cooperation between the two countries and facilitate the movement of future funds in the context of Gaza and the Islamic Hamas Movement.
Further to the instructions of Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser in letter no. (DA-4. 2012-11), we instruct to allocate a sum of $50,000,000 US dollars and send it via money order [in Arabic: hawala maliyya حوالة مالية] from the account of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development to the account of the World Vision organization (Syria food aid office) in Jordan.[1]
Based on the above, your excellency is required to take the necessary steps to ensure that the instructions are implemented verbatim and without delay. We should be provided with any update or report regarding progress on this matter.
With great respect and esteem,
The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister
Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Aal Thani
[signature]
State of Qatar
Ministry of Economy and Finance
The Minister's office
His Excellency the Prime Minister
No.: [barcode]
Date: October 24, 2012
His Excellency Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Aal Thani
The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister
The Office of the Emir
Greetings,
Regarding your letter M.R.W.S. 2160/20/43/2012 of October 23, 2012, relaying the honorable instructions of His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Aal Thani, the beloved Emir of the land, in letter no. (DA-4. 2012-11) regarding the granting of $50,000,000 US dollars in financial aid, in cash, to Mr. Binyamin Netanyahu, after the previous check transferred by the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development to the account of the World Vision organization (Syria food aid office) [in Jordan] was refused.
I hereby inform your honor that, as per your instruction, a sum of $50,000,000 US dollars has been transferred in cash to the representative of the State Security Service, Sheikh Jassim bin Fahd bin Jassim Aal Thani, and [then] given to Mr. Binyamin Netanyahu in cash, as per the letter of agreement issued by the State Security Service.
With great respect,
[signature]
Yousef Husain Kamal,
Minister of Economy and Finance
* Yigal Carmon is Founder and President of MEMRI.
[1] It should be noted that, in 2022, the head of the World Vision organization in Gaza, Muhammad Al-Halabi, was convicted by an Israeli court and sentenced to imprisonment for funneling funds to Hamas (Rueters.com, August 30, 2022: https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-sentences-convicted-gaza-aid-worker-six-more-years-jail-2022-08-30/)
