Bread Lines and Salty Drinking Water: Israeli Aid Block Sets Gaza Back Again
New York TimesMAR 18
Detention of Netanyahu Aides Extended over Ties to Qatar
Above: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends his trial on corruption charges at the district court in Tel Aviv, Israel on April 2, 2025. Image copyright: Yair Sagi/Contributor/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
The Spin
Left narrative
Netanyahu is known to do everything necessary to advance his political career. His move to fire Ronen Bar was clearly motivated by a desire to squash the ongoing investigation into his office's ties with Qatar, which supports Hamas. Nonetheless, Netanyahu may not be able to talk his way out of this one.
Right narrative
Israel's leftist "defenders of democracy" have been suspiciously quiet while journalists are detained and investigated without explanation. Journalists are almost never asked to testify in these types of investigations, and this "Qatargate" conspiracy is another half-baked witch hunt invented by the left to slander their main political rival. While Israel is fighting a war for its very existence, the left is working to undermine the government and the state.
Pro-Palestine narrative
Netanyahu's relationship with Qatar is nothing new, and the prime minister spent a decade facilitating Qatari transfers to Hamas to weaken the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank to further divide the Palestinian national struggle. Indeed, Israel's "opposition" is simply using Netanyahu's well-known ties to Qatar as a means to an end, as the opposition is no different when it comes to Israel's treatment of Palestinians.