Doha – Israelis will be allowed to travel to Qatar to attend the 2022 World Cup games despite the absence of diplomatic relations between Doha and ‘Israel’.
In a joint statement issued on Thursday, the Israeli occupation’s war, foreign, and sports ministries said that “FIFA has confirmed that Israelis will be able to enter Qatar during the World Cup and watch games,” adding that the move will open “a new door” for diplomatic ties with Doha.
According to the statement, Israeli occupation officials reached the agreement with FIFA after months of talks and “efforts,” despite the failure of the Israeli team to qualify for the championship.
Israeli occupation foreign minister Yair Lapid noted on Twitter that the development was a “diplomatic feat” that opens the door to “new warm relationships.”
An Israeli diplomatic source told AFP on Friday that the agreement permitting Israelis to travel to the World Cup does not extend to direct flights between the two sides.
However, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that “efforts continue on working out how Israelis will be able to fly to Qatar.”
Doha is set to host the first World Cup in the Middle East, starting in late November.
In 2009, Doha cut its commercial ties with ‘Israel’, after Israel’s first aggression on the Gaza Strip.
Unlike four Arab countries – the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan, which normalised their ties with ‘Israel’ in 2020 under the so-called Abraham Accords, a pact brokered by the United States – Qatar has conditioned its normalisation with ‘Israel’ on the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Earlier in March, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani strongly denounced the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, stating that much of the international community has been neglecting the issue for decades.
“Millions of Palestinians have been suffering from the Israeli occupation and international neglect for more than seven decades,” Sheikh Tamim said at the opening of the 20th edition of the Doha Forum international conference in the Qatari capital.
He stressed that “the international community has failed to render justice” to Palestinians and other peoples in the region.
Last year, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani stated that the kingdom will not normalise ties with ‘Israel’ unless the regime ends its occupation of Palestinian territories.
The main reason Qatar doesn’t have relations with Israel “is the occupation of the Palestinian territories,” Al Thani told CNBC television news network at the time.
The development comes while many players throughout the Arab world are refusing to face Israeli opponents in solidarity with Palestinian people.
