Nir Barkat, often described as a potential Netanyahu successor, also told NR that Qatar is waging a trillion-dollar ‘soft war’ against Israel and the Jews.
Nir Barkat, often described as a potential Netanyahu successor, also told NR that Qatar is waging a trillion-dollar ‘soft war’ against Israel and the Jews.
I sraeli minister Nir Barkat told National Review that Israel, the U.S., and the rest of the West must confront the terrorist axis led by Iran and Qatar — and that the Iranian regime should be attacked.
“Iran is the leading, evil jihadi alliance. Qatar is a huge player there; people underestimate their part in an evil alliance with Iran,” he said, calling Doha the largest funder of terror around the world.
“You have footprints of Iran all over October 7,” he added, also pointing to Tehran’s sponsorship of Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis, in addition to its nuclear program and the regime’s first-ever direct attack on Israel in April. “To add all that together, it’s very clear to me that Iran must be attacked.”
Barkat, Israel’s minister of economy and industry, made the comments Friday during a wide-ranging interview at NR’s office in Manhattan, almost a year after the October 7 terrorist attacks. He talked regional threats, Israeli domestic politics, and topics related to his ministerial portfolio. He is a senior member of Likud who is often described as a potential Netanyahu successor — and a possible challenger.
Several times throughout the interview, Barkat came back to the idea of a consolidated alliance led by the U.S. and Israel, and comprising moderate Arab states, against Iran, Qatar, and the terrorist groups they support.
Barkat declined to get into what specifically he meant in calling for an attack on Iran, stating that he would not get into all the details in the press. But, citing Iran’s development of nuclear weapons again, he said: “We cannot only rely on defensive capabilities in the war with Iran, but develop an array of very aggressive attack capabilities and use them whenever we need.”
He also said that Israel must go into southern Lebanon to end Hezbollah’s threats to the north of his country, which have displaced tens of thousands of people — and that he has no confidence that a brokered deal could quell the Iranian proxy’s rocket attacks. “It’s going to be physical entry and removal of the threat of Hezbollah because we cannot continue this way,” he said.
Barkat had just attended a conference in Washington whose other attendees included ambassadors from Abraham Accord countries and Saudi Arabia’s envoy to Washington, Princess Reema. Barkat is optimistic that Riyadh will enter into the Middle East peace agreements, he said, predicting that normalization with Israel would be an economic boon to the kingdom.
“There’s no more grey. It’s got to be black and white,” Barkat said of the post-October 7 Middle East. “You either recognize Israel and are willing to join the Abraham Accords — I’m talking about the Palestinians from that perspective — and if you’re not, you’re going to be in serious trouble.”
Part of a broader reassessment of regional politics involves the repudiation of a previous arrangement with Qatar, by which Jerusalem reportedly facilitated the direction of humanitarian assistance from Qatar to Hamas in a bid to diminish the influence of the Palestinian Authority and prevent the consolidation of a Palestinian state. “After October 7, we understand it was a huge mistake, huge mistake by Israeli governments, not just one government, all governments,” Barkat said, adding that Israel must correct it as fast as possible.
But Qatar is still viewed in the U.S. and Israel as a constructive intermediary in the ongoing cease-fire talks with Hamas. Benny Gantz, a former member of Israel’s wartime cabinet from the opposition, recently traveled to Paris with hostage families for a meeting with the prime minister of Qatar. Barkat said, though, that the Gulf kingdom’s actions betray its true intentions: “They’re trying to be nice to everyone; however, their heart and capital and investments are one-sided to support jihad all over the world. They have actually launched what we call a soft war against Israel and the Jews.”
Qatar has spent more than a trillion dollars over a 20-year period, Barkat asserted. “They’re buying everything. Go to Washington, and all of the lobby groups are retained by Qatar, the big law firms are retained by Qatar.
“They’re jihadists, and their goal is Sharia law, and they’re aligned with Iran. We must launch an equivalent soft war against them,” he added, saying that that would include a prohibition on Qatari investment in the West.
Asked if Prime Minister Netanyahu should be held accountable for his role in engaging Qatar before October 7, Barkat said, “I think that everyone that was part of it is accountable — but right now, we’re focusing on winning the war. We’re not looking back. It’s clear that it was a big mistake, from my perspective, but what we will do with it, we’ll deal with it after the war.” He also declined to discuss his political future within Likud and how he might wage a future campaign to lead a party considering Netanyahu’s considerable staying power: “After the war, we’ll talk politics,” he said.
Barkat also addressed the state of Israel’s wartime economy, saying that Israel has spent approximately 10 percent of GDP or 200 billion shekels — equivalent to about $53 billion — on the war so far. Expenditures are likely to increase, he said, because “there’s still a war ahead of us, in the north, with Iran, and so that number may still grow.
“But it’s under control,” Barkat said, speaking about growth potential in Israel’s economy, because “I believe that after the war there will be a huge spike, and after we win the war, you’ll see a significant amount of interest.”