The Israeli Channel 10 reported that Qatar has financed trips of Israeli officers and figures abroad.
The report revealed that two Israeli officers and two employees received travel expenses from a media organization funded by Qatar, pointing out that the Israeli army confirmed that their cooperation with the organization was done according to procedures.
"Senior officers of the Israeli army and senior government officials traveled to lectures abroad, their trip was financed by a media organization that is funded by the government of Qatar," the Israeli channel said.
"An organization called ‘Our Soldiers Speak’ is the one that organized the trips for officers and senior Israeli officials,".
The report illustrated that "Our Soldiers Speak" is a right-wing organization founded a few years ago by Benjamin Anthony, a British-born settler who, after his military service, decided to establish an organization to explain the activity of the Israeli occupation army at the universities of English-speaking countries.
Channel 10 noted that on October 30, 2017, the organization received a donation of $100,000 from a Jewish American businessman and owner of a restaurant chain in New York named Joey Laham. Last year he worked as a lobbyist for the Qatari government in the United States, especially among the Jewish community.
"According to US law, Laham must register himself as a foreign agent working with the Qatari government, and must disclose to the US Department of Justice the funds received from Qatar, the disbursement of these funds”.
Documents published in a weekly American magazine ‘Jewish Week’ revealed that Laham received a million and a half million dollars from the Qatari government to pressure groups within the United States.
The documents also showed that on October 30, 2017, he donated $100,000 from the Qatari government funds to Benjamin Anthony’s "Our Soldiers Speak". This was a very important contribution to the organization, which accounted for about 15% of its budget.
Since the organization's receipt of the donations, Channel 10 has learned that two Israeli occupation officers traveled to the United States and their trip was paid for by the organization, one of them an officer in the medical sector of the Israeli army, the other in the Israeli air defense system, in addition to another lecturer who is currently working in the United States.
The Office of the Israeli army Spokesman said that the army is working to strengthen its legitimacy on the international scale, including cooperation with various organizations, focusing on public information and the provision of the Israeli army to the international community and working with these organizations according to procedures.
