The crucial mediator: Janus-faced Qatar

Qatari officials rarely speak to Israeli media. This time, Qatari Foreign Affairs spokesperson Majed Al Ansari spoke to The Times of Israel, though, to discuss the ceasefire and efforts to get the negotiations for the second stage of the deal underway. Ever since the radical plan for Gaza, developments have moved at a fast pace in the region with the Arab League calling on Hamas to excuse itself, while some Israeli ministers are, once again, calling for a return to Gaza and expulsion of the Palestinians. Meanwhile, the remaining hostages are still languishing just across the Gaza border, so it is important to understand what Qatar’s opinion is, an important mediator since the beginning of the war.

Al Ansari gave a strong showing. The article describes how he, apparently, carefully criticized the US administration’s stance, he pointed out Israeli breaches of the ceasefire, and confirmed that Qatar acknowledged and supported the Palestinian Authority as the political representative of the Palestinian people. In addition, Al Ansari pointed out that Israelis appreciated Qatar’s role as well. The hostage families had met with Qatari officials and the Israeli government was pleased with Qatari transparency about the aid they sent to Gaza. Finally, Al Ansari took aim at those critical of Qatar and accused them of trying to slander the peninsular state’s reputation. It was a solid interview, diplomatically correct, while he succeeded in defending Qatar well. But some of the quotations betrayed something else.

As stressed by the article’s author, there was no criticism of Hamas. None. When asked about Israel’s complaints concerning Hamas’ violations of the deal, Al Ansari simply stated that they were “aware of them.” And in the last quotation of the article, Al Ansari states that the negotiations are the only way of ending the captivity of the hostages and the suffering of Gazans. Notice the difference: Gazans are suffering, not the hostages. If the latter would have been suffering, then Al Ansari would have to blame Hamas – and that cannot happen. Finally, Al Ansari refused to endorse a postwar Gaza without Hamas. He argued that the Gazans should decide who would govern them. As he put it, the Gazans needed to have agency, no one could decide on their behalf. A noble statement, but there are some issues.

First of all, Hamas has never consulted the Gazans at all in their long reign over the coastal strip. Dissidents are arrested, tortured, evidence of this has been shared. And Hamas certainly did not consult their people about launching their carnage on October 7^th. It is funny that Al Ansari now believes that Hamas could have a say. Second, his noble statement makes democratic sense and would have been acceptable, if it had been mentioned by a Dutch, American, British, German or Turkish representative. However, he represents a country where there is no democratic process at all. His ruler, Emir Tamim, abolished parliamentary elections last year – not that it had ever had any power before, except superficial – and is the son of Emir Hamad, a man who committed a palace coup by dethroning his father in 1995. Sure it was a bloodless coup d’état, but that does not change the nature of the act. The Palestinian people should decide for themselves…but the Qatari never will. Hypocrisy at its best.

The moderate Qatar

Qatar has established itself on the world stage rapidly in the past decades. It holds one of the largest gas reserves in the world. Its alliance with the United States is important and in 1996 the current Emir’s father built the Al Udeid military base, which hosts thousands of American military personnel. The news network created by the same Hamad, al-Jazeera, is one of the best-viewed networks in the Arab world and it has penetrated Western countries significantly with its English service. In the arts and culture scene, female members of the ruling family are active. The Emir’s mother, Sheikha Moza, is always sporting cutting edge Western fashion, hobnobs with celebrities, and is lauded by fashion experts. And one of her daughters is an art collector for Qatar Museums and spends hundreds of millions buying up art from over the world, created by some of the biggest names, such as Paul Gauguin, Andy Warhol, and Jeff Koons. In business as well, Qatar is making its mark. It invests massive amounts of funds in real estate, for instance in France, it invests in countries like Spain, and in the United Kingdom, too. Academia, let us not forget. Especially American universities have caught the Qatari eye. And according to SIPRI, Qatar was one of the premier buyers of defense equipment in the world in the period 2019-2023. Sports, too. Formula One, other sporting events and, of course, the crowning achievement: the FIFA World Cup. Now, I like football, but when Qatar won the bid I was in shock and many people with me. It demonstrated once and for all that FIFA cares about filling its coffers alone, nothing more. Nonetheless, for the ruling family it was a great coup.

These activities have helped propel Qatar to the international status it enjoys today. The country is a welcome guest in many capitals, both East and West. A valued partner in the Middle East, Europe, the United States in particular, and elsewhere. Even Israel values Qatar, as Al Ansari stated. But not all love Qatar as much as it would like the world to think. And that is because it speaks with forked tongue.

The real Qatar

To begin with, the Arabic version of al-Jazeera is unabashedly pro-Islamist. Moreover, the network is Hamas’ official megaphone. But other Qatari news outlets do not fare any better. Translations can be found about the most vitriolic Israel-hatred and general antisemitism you can imagine. Journalists, editors, columnists writing in newspapers, posting on websites, and expressing themselves on their social media accounts, where they openly praise Hamas, celebrate the slaughter of Israelis, ignore the killings of Arab Israelis and Palestinians by Hamas, refer to ancient Islamic battles where Jews were slaughtered and call for this to happen again, and, finally, openly call for the destruction of Israel and thus victory for Hamas. But that is not all, as virulent cartoons and articles about the United States are produced, too.

Qatar has always claimed that it has freedom of the press. Really? Then, why have I not found any Qatari daily producing a cartoon or critical article about Hamas or even Islamic Jihad? It does vilify the Palestinian Authority, claiming it is corrupt and not a good representative of Palestinian interests. It has nothing to do with corruption, otherwise it would launch broadsides at Hamas, too. The immense wealth owned by the most powerful members of Hamas and their families is ignored as well. No, the Qatari press’ issue with the PA stems from the fact that they know that it still cooperates with the IDF, in terms of security. Israel, of course, is the enemy. Finally, if the Qatari press is free, then why can we not find any critical articles detailing the rights of expats and labor migrants in Qatar? There are roughly 4,000,000 residents in the country, but only about 350,000 hold Qatari citizenship. The country runs on imported labor, Qatari are a minority in their own country. Why did we not hear the Qatari press voice any criticism about imported construction workers worked to death, when Qatar was building its football stadiums for the World Cup? And why is there no harsh criticism at all of the ruling family? Do they possess supernatural abilities and do everything perfectly? We know why: there is no freedom of the press. Everything that is published aligns with Qatari policy or is condoned by the ruling family. The same with its pro-Hamas stance: it reflects the views of the ruling family.

Emir Tamim continues to host Hamas’ top members; he enjoys good relations with Iran, another enemy of Israel’s; and in international forums he has repeatedly pledged support for the Palestinians, while viciously attacking Israel. And he is not the only one. His mother eulogized Yahya Sinwar on social media. Its education system is rife with antisemitism and glorification of acts of terror against Israel. Qatar University shows no difference whatsoever. For example, A Palestinian student club at the university bears the name Elia Club. Why would you give your club a name that was created by Emperor Hadrian who worshipped Jupiter? Because it refers to Aelia Capitolina, the name he gave to Jerusalem, after he had destroyed the Jewish Second Temple, slaughtered the Jewish residents, and torn most of the city to shreds. Then, he built a Roman colony on the ruins by the name of Aelia Capitolina, dedicated it to Jupiter, and forbade Jews from living there. A Jerusalem free of Jews, that is why these Palestinian students chose that name. How much more antisemitic can it get? But, of course, Qatar University allows it – no surprise. And the honorable Al Ansari? In 2021, when he was still a columnist for Qatari daily al-Sharq, Al Ansari praised all of Hamas’ terror attacks, be they rocket attacks or suicide bombings, everything was glorified. In addition, he consistently referred to Israel as “the entity.” Is that not nice?

So, why does Qatar keep getting away with this? In my opinion, because the world lets it. I will at least say this, the ruling family’s strategy is very shrewd and effective. It has ingratiated itself in the halls of European and American power, due to its luxurious investments in real estate, sports, arts, business, and academia. Its gas is a high-demand export commodity. These trade and investment relations have strengthened Qatar’s image and improved relationships with many countries throughout the world. Internally, one of its most powerful assets is the Al Udeid base. Of course, in October 2024 Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani could boldly state that Qatar’s foreign policy is not influenced by the base at all, but he should not pretend that it is not an ironclad security guarantee for the tiny Gulf state. It was a brilliant move by Emir Hamad to build the base in the late 1990s. To show Qatar’s intelligent maneuvering and how well it paid of dividends, one only needs to look at the Gulf Crisis. In a surprising display of rapid and coordinated activity, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt severed ties with Qatar and implemented a blockade over a row concerning al-Jazeera’s critical reporting on the mentioned countries. There is nothing wrong with being critical, but the network’s criticism is selective. Why these countries? Because the Egyptian government and the ruling families of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain are considered enemies of Islamism. Eventually, the blockade failed, was lifted after a few years, and Qatar restored ties with the instigators. All of that was due to its political strategy. First, Qatar shares one land border with Saudi Arabia and is surrounded by water. But regardless of considering military intervention, none of the countries could have done so, due to Al Udeid. Its security was guaranteed. Second, its friends worldwide came to its defense, for instance valuable trade partner France, condemning the blockade and demanding it be lifted. Thirdly, stressing freedom of the press in Qatar, which does not exist, certainly resonated in the West as well. Everyone seemed to forget that Qatar is an authoritarian country. When Kuwait and the US brokered an end to the blockade, it proved that Qatar’s political strategy was successful. Its influence has only increased since then.

Whatever Qatar says, it matters not. Who supports the Taliban? Qatar. Of all the various rebels who helped oust Assad in Syria, who supports the Islamists? Qatar. It has taken up the mantle of mediator in the war between Israel and Hamas, but it represents Hamas, nothing more, nothing less. The ruling family openly supports Hamas in Arabic, but it skillfully sanitizes its language when making statements in English. Many in the West might be duped by this, but people in the Middle East know better. Qatar is a steadfast supporter of everything Islamist and has no qualms about glorifying terrorism. Yet, what surprises me is that Israeli government officials continue to give Qatar the benefit of the doubt, even during this war. Sara Netanyahu even sent a letter to Sheikha Moza, pleading with her to say something about the hostages. Did she honestly think that the Sheikha would answer her call? Then again, cooperation between Qatar and Israel goes back at least a decade. By now, several disturbing pieces of information have come to light and an investigation has been launched to delve into the Qatari relationship. Were Israeli government officials systematically duped by Qatar or will the results provide us with a more disturbing image? The Israeli people deserve answers and no stone should remain unturned.

Qatar’s Janus-faced attitude has worked wonders for it. Flatter and invest in the West, preach and glorify jihad at home. How much longer will the world look away?