Former Haaretz Columnist Alon Pinkas Embroiled in Qatari Funding Scandal

A brewing scandal at Haaretz, Israel's left-leaning newspaper often cited by critics of the country's policies, has come to light involving former columnist and diplomat Alon Pinkas, who allegedly received substantial payments linked to Qatari interests while contributing to the publication.

The revelations, first reported by Haaretz itself following an internal probe, have prompted accusations of foreign influence and bias, particularly in coverage related to the Israel-Hamas war and hostage negotiations.

Pinkas, a former Israeli consul general in New York and a vocal critic of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, received monthly payments totaling hundreds of thousands of shekels (equivalent to tens of thousands of U.S. dollars) from January 2024 through March 2025.

These funds were routed through Israeli businessman Gil Birger from Jay Footlik, a U.S.-based lobbyist whose firm, Third Circle, has represented Qatari entities. During this period, Pinkas authored at least seven opinion pieces in Haaretz's English edition that portrayed Qatar favorably, emphasizing its role as a key mediator in hostage deals, a U.S. ally, and a financier of Gaza at Israel's past request, aligning closely with talking points drafted by Footlik.

The issue surfaced amid broader investigations into "Qatargate," a series of alleged Qatari influence operations in Israel aimed at shaping public opinion on Gaza funding, hostage mediations, and criticisms of regional rivals like Egypt.

This marks the third such incident at Haaretz: Journalist Chaim Levinson was dismissed after receiving over NIS 200,000 from a similar network, and an anonymous column praising Qatar was tied to another Footlik associate, David Saig.

Israeli police have concluded their inquiry and forwarded findings to the State Attorney's Office, though no charges have been filed against Pinkas as of now.

In defense, Pinkas maintains the payments were for drafting three independent policy papers on Gaza war scenarios, unrelated to Qatar, and that he was unaware of any Qatari connections until the exposure. He claims his columns reflected his own analyses based on official Israeli and U.S. stances, and he has threatened defamation lawsuits against Haaretz.

The newspaper has also added disclaimers to Pinkas's Qatar-related articles and stated it found no further evidence of impropriety beyond the undisclosed ties, leading to his quiet departure in April 2025.

Haaretz's hack columnists have been spewing venom at Netanyahu and Trump to whitewash a terror-sponsoring petro-state that hosts Hamas honchos in luxury, turning "journalism" into a paid propaganda parade that'd make Goebbels blush.These so-called intellectuals are just mercenary mouthpieces selling out their own country for a fistful of riyals, happily undermining Israel from within while the real enemies laugh all the way to the bank, because nothing says "moral imperative" like biting the hand that feeds you and then whining when you're called a traitor.