The rule of Qatar, one of the most repressive countries in the world, used his platform at the U.N. General Assembly's General Debate to slander democratic Israel as an "apartheid state" and condemn so-called "Judaization" of Jerusalem. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani Amir said:
"It is not acceptable for the Palestinian people to remain prisoners of the Israeli settler occupation... The occupation has brazenly taken the form of an apartheid regime in the broad daylight of the twenty-first century. Even some of Israel's close friends have taken notice of this. Israel also responds to Arab peace and normalization initiatives with more nationalist and ultra-orthodox intransigence and extremism that is reflected in government coalitions and further settlement expansion, in addition to the Judaization of Jerusalem..."