Meshal Hamad Al Thani, Qatari ambassador to the United States, accused Mike Huckabee, U.S. ambassador to Israel, of serving the interests of Israel over America on Thursday.
Al Thani claimed that his country “has nothing to do with antisemitism or anti-Israel sentiment on American college campuses” and that Huckabee “echoes talking points from Israel’s extremist government.”
“It is regrettable that Amb. Huckabee is peddling Benjamin Netanyahu’s talking points, participating in an Israeli-led campaign against Qatar,” the ambassador wrote.
“Amb. Huckabee should be serving the interests of the United States and supporting its allies,” he said. “Instead, he is promoting the interests of Israel’s leadership and amplifying its propaganda to influence American public opinion.” (JNS sought comment from the State Department.)
Al Thani appeared to be responding to comments Huckabee made on Saturday at the Family Research Council’s Pray Vote Stand Summit, in which the former Arkansas governor denounced the “blood libels” from critics of Israel at the United Nations.
“That’s one of the biggest challenges that the people of Israel face. It’s the propaganda machine,” he said. “I really wish that people understood how many billions of dollars have been poured into America, not only through nations like Qatar and others, who have paid for Middle East study series on university campuses, but if you add all of the bots and social media influencing that has gone on from Russia, from China, all to divide America, to give America the sense that they need to be against Israel.”
Qatar is the largest foreign donor to universities in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
Qatari officials insist that that money pays for the Doha campuses of American universities in Qatar, which include schools like Georgetown University, Cornell University and Carnegie Mellon University.
Watchdog groups like the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy have alleged that Qatari largesse on American campuses has helped fuel anti-Israel and antisemitic sentiment, in line with the Gulf state’s support for Hamas and opposition to the Jewish state.
Al Thani touted Qatar’s status as a major non-NATO ally of the United States and said that Israel was behind the effort to denigrate Qatar.
“Manufactured outrage and misplaced accusations no longer deflect attention from their crimes,” he wrote. “The reported $1 billion spent by Israel since 2023 trying to influence international and American public opinion has failed miserably.”
