Nearly 15,000 Israelis have already purchases tickets for the 2022 Qatar World Cup, and sports travel agencies estimate that 25,000-30,000 Israelis will travel to Qatar for the event, Israel Hayom reported. But Israel and Qatar still do not have formal diplomatic relations, and multiple reports have said that Qatar is supporting Hamas.
Next week, the National Security Council is due to discuss the possible dangers for Israelis in Qatar, especially since Iranian officials are expected to attend the tournament and there is concern that attacks might be plotted against any Israelis present.
The Qatar World Cup is scheduled to begin on Nov. 21.
An official involved in the matter told Israel Hayom that, "This is a complicated security challenge, that requires cooperation with all the Qatari authorities, something we aren't certain will happen."
"Only after our meeting will we understand if and how we can handle this challenge. So many Israelis are scheduled to be there – it's something that has never happened in a state with which we have unstable relations, to say the least."
The official said Israel hopes that the Qataris would want to please the tournament organizers and would comply with various requests to allow it to proceed without any problems.
"If we can't agree on what we need, it's possible [Israel] might issue a warning not to travel to Qatar. This is all pragmatic, we aren't playing games," he added.