Israel borne out to Arabs as Middle East’s main threat after Qatar strike
On September 9, Israel carried out an unprecedented air strike on Qatar’s capital, Doha, aimed at assassinating political leaders of Hamas. Qatar described the operation as a blatant violation of its sovereignty and as state terrorism, and said it reserved the right to respond. The attack heightened diplomatic and security tensions across the Middle East and fueled fears that hostilities could spread beyond Gaza.
Inaction by the United States in response to Israel’s strike on Qatar — one of Washington’s closest regional partners and host to the largest US military base in the area — has provoked waves of regional and international criticism and concern. The perceived inaction has not only called into question America’s credibility as a security guarantor for its allies, it has also left many governments in the region doubting the durability and reliability of the US security umbrella.
Emad Abshenas, regional affairs expert, has shared his insights on the matter in an interview with Iran Daily:
IRAN DAILY: What effect will Israel’s recent attack on Doha have on regional states’ positions toward Israel and the United States?
ABSHENAS: Practically all countries in the region have now realized that Israel is the enemy and that it has no scruples about striking other states in the region. Moreover, the United States is not providing them with protection. Despite having invested huge sums there — running into the trillions of dollars, including roughly $400 billion invested in the United States just months ago — these states had expected Washington to guarantee their security. Instead, according to published reports, both the US and the UK not only refrained from acting, but also assisted Israel in the attack on Qatar.
Those reports indicate that the refueling crews who serviced the Israeli aircraft were British personnel who took off from the very Al Udeid base in Qatar. They also assert that US defense systems were disabled, permitting F-35s to carry out the strike. Military experts are well aware that US aircraft — especially the F-35 — have systems that will not operate without US authorization, and that these aircraft are continuously monitored by the United States so that, in the event of a crash, they can be destroyed quickly to prevent them from falling into enemy hands. For such reasons it can be said that the United States was fully aware of the operation, and that the attack was conducted with US green light.
Qatar has long acted as a mediator for the United States on numerous issues across the Middle East and Africa, and has spent millions — perhaps billions — of dollars advancing US interests in the region. On occasion it even paid the costs for securing the release of American captives. Yet it now finds itself the target of an attack on its soil, at a time when Washington had asked Doha to invite Hamas to mediate — in other words, Qatar had not unilaterally invited Hamas onto its territory.
Not only did the United States fail to defend Qatar; it was a partner in the attack. All the defense systems in the Persian Gulf Arab states are administrated from Washington, not by those states themselves, and effectively those systems were switched off by the Americans. Had Washington not been complicit or cooperative, it could have closed the aerial corridor used by the Israelis for the strike and prevented them from passing. US cooperation meant it was a partner in the crime.
Page 3