Former prime minister Naftali Bennett called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign on Monday, accusing him of engaging in the cover-up of the Qatargate affair, which Bennett called “the most serious act of treason in Israeli history.”

The statement from Bennett, who is running against Netanyahu in next year’s election, follows new revelations about the scandal. The affair involves allegations that top aides to the prime minister were acting as paid lobbyists for Qatar, where Hamas’s leadership is based, while simultaneously working for Netanyahu.

On Sunday, i24 News reported that communication between the suspects showed they had fabricated information, and worked with a reporter for a pro-Netanyahu outlet to change the text of one of his pieces to accord with their messages.

“Netanyahu’s office betrayed the State of Israel and IDF soldiers during wartime and acted on behalf of Qatar for financial gain, and Netanyahu himself is covering it up,” Bennett declared in a statement following the report. “Whether Netanyahu knew or did not know that his office was working for the enemy in a time of war, both possibilities require his immediate resignation.”

Bennett pledged to establish a state commission of inquiry “that will also investigate aid to an enemy state in a time of war” if he is elected to lead the next government.

The former prime minister, like other Netanyahu critics, has demanded a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding the........

© The Times of Israel