Qatar is a small country, flanked by two much stronger powers, Iran and Saudi Arabia. It has to be creative to preserve itself in this tricky neighborhood. And indeed, it is creative. Just look at its unique ability to maintains close ties with Iran, with Hamas, with the Muslim Brotherhood and still have important relationships with the U.S. and with Israel. Its geography, social and political stability, and – of course – natural resources makes it punch way above its weight.
Qatar has to be creative to preserve itself in this tricky neighborhood. Just look at its unique ability to maintains close ties with Iran, Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood– and still have important relationships with the U.S. and Israel.
Qatar provided billions in aid to Hamas. These were the funds that enabled Hamas to build its infrastructure of terrorism. It also worked with Israel and was a broker of ceasefires and agreements. An honest broker? The fact is Israel came back for more. The fact is Israel needed Qatar’s services and still seems to need them.
Or maybe not? Qatar wields its power and influence in many ways, forging ties with countries and people. Earlier this week, Israel’s internal security service, the Shin Bet, began probing the ties between advisers to PM Netanyahu and Qatar. According to media reports, Eli Feldstein, a Netanyahu aide — already in trouble for leaking secret information — was paid by Doha for PR services. Other close aides were previously employed by Qatar to assist with image building. The U.N.’s office immediately rejected any suggestion of wrongdoing, and yet, this information is disturbing: Netanyahu was the PM when Israel-Qatari relations “underwent a dramatic shift,” as one research paper defined it.
Qatar and Israel made Gaza a topic of mutual interest after the 2014 clash between Israel and Hamas. The countries’ strange allience endured when Qatar was shunned and boycotted by moderate Arab countries such as Egypt. Israel’s strategy, initiated and implemented by Netanyahu, was to use Qatar and its financial ability to tame Hamas. Qatar would be an important diplomatic player and bolster its Islamist ally, Israel would get security in return.
This didn’t work as well as Israel hoped. Whether Qatar was blindsided by Hamas’ October 7 attack or not is anyone’s guess. But one thing is clear: it did not have the power or the will to prevent it. A war ensued and a year-and-a-half later we’re back at square one, using Qatar as mediator, talking to Qatar about hostage deals, communicating with Hamas via the same channel. Plus, this nugget of additional information we didn’t previously have: PM advisors were personally paid to improve Qatar’s image.
It could be nothing. Life is complicated, and people do things that could seem suspicious without them commiting any sin. Relations between Israel and Qatar are frought with contraditions to begin with – is it a friend or a foe, and ally or an enemy? At the beggining of the week some Israeli journalists and activists were having such a debate on X, with no possible conclusion because it is, well, both. This could be confusing for all Israelis, this could be confusing for people who work for the PM. If Israel can talk to Qatar, deal with Qatar, ask for Qatar’s help, have commercial ties, diplomatic channels, hold secret talks – what’s the problem with getting a contract to improve Qatar’s image?
Well, there are two problems and these are the ones that are under investigation. Problem number one – if Qatar paid for PR, maybe it also paid to have influence on the PM’s policies. Of course, such a possibility has many degrees of severity. It could be more like soft power – having an ally in the PM’s circle. It could be more like espionage – having someone to leak information. It could be even worse. Just use your imagination to understand how.
Problem number two – when it comes to Feldstein it is already known that he didn’t have a security clearence you’d expect from someone with access to the PM’s inner circle. That is a problem in and of itself. Now it becomes even more troubling. He did not have a clearance, and was paid by Qatar. Again – there’s no proof of wrongdoing on his part. But it does raise questions about the management of the PM’s office and the PM’s work environment.
A third problem is perception. Israel is still traumatized by the massacre, it is still sending soldiers to the front, it is still planning to fight in Gaza. The public must not be under the impression that financial interests are mixed into the process of decision making at Israel’s top offices. Israel, wrote a Misgav Institute scholar, must “act more assertively to show the international community that Qatari support for extremist groups is a threat not only to Israel, as the events of Oct. 7 demonstrated, but also to the United States and Europe.” Misgav is a think tank with a right-leaning bent and ties to the PM.
So it sould be clear that one can’t be employed to “show” one bad side of Qatar – while also being employed to sell the good side of Qatar. Even in a complicated world, one must choose.
Something I wrote in Hebrew
Trump seems less inclined than Biden to tell Israel what it can and can’t do as it considers how to uproot Hamas. So …
In the coming weeks, we will discover what happens when Israel feels more liberated. We will discover whether it is tempted to make dangerous, hasty moves, because without the American bridle, it loses the ability to think patiently and carefully – or we will discover the opposite: when the responsibility falls on its shoulders, without the ability to use a U.S. made excuse (“we didn’t attack because Washington wouldn’t allow it”), it shrugs off the adolescent attitude, and puts on the mantle of an adult. This does not mean that it will necessarily act more or less firmly, it means that it will act wisely according to the prevailing conditions. If the gates of hell need to be opened – so be it. But if it doesn’t need to – Israel will not open them just because Trump allows it.
A week’s numbers
Lest we forget: as Israel is still busy with issues of war and hostage release, the undercurrent of social tensions is still very much with the present.
A reader’s response
Yael Oren asks: “Are Israelis concerned about the attack on American democracy by the Trump administration?” Answer: Not really, their main interest is Trump’s Middle East policy, and for now they are pleased with it.
Shmuel Rosner is senior political editor. For more analysis of Israeli and international politics, visit Rosner’s Domain at jewishjournal.com/rosnersdomain.
