Shortly after the war broke out, Qatar announced the shutdown of its natural gas liquefaction facility due to an Iranian strike. The consequences were immediate: the global gas surplus vanished and energy prices surged.
The United States is extremely sensitive to energy prices, especially this president, who returned to power on the shockwaves of runaway inflation.
But then someone briefed the president that it might be part of a broader scheme: coordination between Iran and Qatar to close the facility in order to pressure an end to the war. According to the claim, Trump was furious and made clear it would not continue.
The plight of the Qataris is touching: without Iran there is no need for a forward American base in Doha, and without such a base the influence of the gas emirate evaporates. Perhaps that is why, since the start of the war, the Qataris have sent several unusually conciliatory messages to Israel. Suddenly Israeli bombings are no longer described on Al Jazeera as genocide.
At this rate, even Tucker Carlson—lubricated by vast Qatari funding—may rediscover the wonders of the Jewish people.
They may deserve it. But even some of our great friends, like the UAE, are on the receiving end of this war. For their sake and ours, the war should end with a decisive outcome.
Unlike Israel, they did not build their state under fire. If they become the frontline in the coming years, we will be crowned as the ones responsible, with all the problematic consequences.
Out of desperation, Qatar’s leaders may expel Hamas from their territory. The pretext is Hamas’s failure to condemn the Iranian attacks. The real reason is a desire to move closer to the West.
The possible end of the ayatollahs’ regime also signals the end of the era of mediation. If there is no Shiite terror empire, there are no hostages to return, no wars to end, and no money to lubricate.
Hamas leaders are not having an easy time either. Turkey is unlikely to welcome them—especially now that Erdoğan has discovered that Trump, whom he believed was in his pocket, has been conducting a long and secret affair with the Kurds he despises.
After all, what is Hamas to do when dad bombs mom?
This week Iran’s embassy in Doha opened a condolence book for the death of Khamenei. The Iranians expected that after so many years of cooperation, Hamas leaders would come to pay their respects. On the other hand, that is not a message that would be received well by the Qataris these days, while they are being hit by ballistic missiles.
So they hesitated, and hesitated—and the condolence book, for now, remains empty.
This is an excerpt from my weekly column in Israel Hayom
