Waltz Presses Gates Over Alleged Hamas Ties

Rep. MIchael Waltz

Florida Rep. Mike Waltz (R) sent a letter to Bill Gates, warning of possible legal exposure to official Hamas events by providing material support to a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). He then calls on Gates to ensure that neither his companies nor employees have provided such support.

An assets management firm founded and controlled by Bill Gates called Cascade Investments is alleged to have acquired a majority stake in the Four Seasons Hotel and Resorts. However, in 2015, Khaled Meshaal, a senior Hamas leader, is reported to have used the Four Seasons in Doha, Qatar, for a press conference. As well, Meshaal is reported to have used the same Four Seasons for a closed-door meeting with then-Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in 2016.

In the letter, Waltz cites that “others have allegedly stayed there since, including during and after Hamas’s horrific terrorist attack that has so far resulted in at least 1,400 people killed in Israel, 3,400 others wounded, and 199 kidnapped." "At least 260 people alone were killed at a music festival near Kibbutz Re’im,” Waltz further adds.

Waltz subsequently calls on Gates to confirm that neither his companies, his employees, or himself have provided material support to Hamas or any other FTO, adding that “an affirmative finding by the government may not be communicated to you or them immediately, but rather revealed through either an indictment, through a future refusal of entry at a U.S. port, or some other action.”

Waltz also notes that Gates has not commented on the attack on Israel, expressing that “this seems particularly difficult to understand given your focus on humanitarian causes and potentially carries significant reputational damage.”

In turn, he calls on Gates and his companies to release a statement on behalf of the people of Israel, which includes a pledge of preventing the future use of the Four Seasons by Hamas.