Israel attack on Qatar: Another nail in the coffin of US regional leadership
10 September 2025 go
One of the Gulf’s
most active mediators has been violated, its sovereignty trampled,
while the US administration struggled to find words
Qatar's Emir
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani (L) and Prime Minister and Minister of
Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani talk to US
President Donald Trump on 15 May, 2025 (AFP)
A hope turned into illusion
For decades, Qatar has lived with the comforting hope - now turned illusion - that its role as a go-between, the Switzerland of the Middle East, gave it a measure of security.
Principled neutrality, dialogue, a handshake here, a discreet
conversation there, has been the Qatari way - always with America’s
buy-in and always with US interests in mind. On top of it, the largest
American base in the Middle East: Al Udeid, the ultimate Qatari insurance policy.
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Israel's attack on Qatar should be a wake-up call for the Arab world
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Being indispensable to Washington meant America would do anything to protect Qatar. That illusion has been torn apart.
In truth, it was already seriously damaged during Trump's first
presidency, when his administration gave credence to the claims that
Qatar was a supporter of “terrorism”, enabling the three-year blockade
imposed by Qatar’s Gulf rivals, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
With Trump back in the White House, within two months Doha has been struck twice, first by Iran
on 23 June and now by Israel. Principled neutrality in the service of
regional multilateralism and stability has put a target on Qatar’s back.
The strike was also a calculated insult to Washington. Netanyahu has
made a habit of pushing American presidents around, and this time he
humiliated Trump in broad daylight.
The meeting he struck was discussing a US-backed ceasefire plan, tabled by Steve Witkoff, who
has been working intimately with Qatari counterparts on squaring the
circle of getting two parties to the table. But as Netanyahu proved time
and again, he is more interested in continuing the war than a
ceasefire.
In effect, Israel bombed Trump’s own diplomacy. A slap to the White House and a reminder to Trump’s Maga faithful that the promise of ending foreign entanglements is slipping through their fingers.
While the Gulf - chief of all Qatar - have tried to provide America
with an off-ramp from endless wars, Netanyahu has made sure the US is
dragged right back in.
US credibility bleeding out
It is also an assault on the fragile architecture of the Abraham Accords. That grand experiment in normalisation between Israel and the Gulf now looks shakier than ever.
What makes it worse is the chaos in Washington. The administration
looks disorganised, with barely a footprint left in the region and even
less influence
One of the Gulf’s most active mediators has been violated, its
sovereignty trampled, while the US administration struggled to find
words on Truth Social to condemn Israel’s violation of Qatar’s
territorial integrity and sovereignty.
If mowing the lawn was once Israel’s metaphor for keeping Hamas in
check, it has been ploughing the neighbour’s garden for the past two
years. No rules, no redlines, no checks and balances.
What makes it worse is the chaos in Washington. The administration
looks disorganised, with barely a footprint left in the region and even
less influence. America’s credibility as protector is bleeding out.
Since the early 1990s, Qatar’s leadership never had any reason to doubt America’s commitment to the region.
There were even hopes that interdependence between Washington and
Doha would elevate Qatar to the same allied status as Israel. For years
Doha has been putting all its eggs in the American basket.
Leaders in Doha now have to ask themselves whether they have been naïve, trusting in the alliance while neighbours like the United Arab Emirates hedged and diversified.
Now Qatar is left wondering whether strategic autonomy, once an academic talking point, is becoming a necessity.
Conflicting accounts are circulating
of who was warned by whom and most importantly when. Telling if it
turned out that the warning to the White House about an Israel strike
came from the US military and not from Israel’s prime minister directly.
It also worrying to think that warnings to Qatar were only issued after the missiles already struck the target.
The fact that Israel acted without a clear American nod shows how far
the balance has shifted. Netanyahu did not ask; he assumed.
Trump, forced to choose between his Gulf partners and the Israeli
lobby, ends up contorted, trying to have his cake and eat it while
everyone sees the crumbs.
A bitter irony
Israel failed operationally as the Hamas leaders are still alive. Khalil al-Hayya, a quiet, uncharismatic appointee, might emerge burnished, his stature enhanced by survival.
The failed strike could embolden Hamas supporters who will think that
even in the heart of Doha, Israel could not silence them. That makes
the plight of Israeli hostages even more precarious.
This is the bitter irony: a strike meant to weaken Hamas may embolden
it. This reckless attack has sacrificed Israel’s springtime in the Gulf
upon the altar of clawing back influence in Washington’s endless battle
for hearts and minds.
For Qatar, the lesson is cruel but clear. Being the region’s broker does not grant immunity
For Qatar, the lesson is cruel but clear. Being the region’s broker
does not grant immunity. It may instead invite fire from every
direction. Doha’s strategy of pragmatic entanglement still matters, but
it can no longer rest on the hope that America will always be there with
a shield.
Strategic autonomy is not a luxury. Strategic thinkers in Doha now need to reevaluate basic strategic assumptions.
In truth, all of this feels like the end of an era. The US once
played conductor in the Middle East orchestra. Now it is being outplayed
by its own first violin.
Qatar, like the other Gulf states, will have to ask itself if it
wants to continue playing to America’s tune or create its own orchestra,
pooling its capabilities and resources to emerge as an independent pole
of stability in the region.
Perhaps the only certainty is uncertainty. The old rules no longer
hold. And in that emptiness, small states like Qatar must find new ways
to endure, to mediate, to matter. Neutrality may not keep you safe, but
it might still keep you necessary.
On an up note, while Trump struggled to find the right words, the
international community unequivocally condemned Israel and sided with
Qatar. It shows that Doha’s mediation strategy has not been in vain -
from Europe, the global South and the Arab world, to international
organisations have blamed Israel for this severe violation of
international law.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.