Striking the Octopus: How Qatar Became a Hostile State to Israel
While Qatar does not engage in direct military conflict, it utilizes massive leverage that threatens Israel's security. Funding, propaganda, and ties to terrorist organizations remain key tools for Doha, necessitating a more sophisticated and consistent strategy from Jerusalem.
This week, the question of relations between Israel and Qatar has resurfaced. For many years, the Gulf emirate has been conducting a hostile policy that undermines Jerusalem's status in the West, fuels hatred, and supports the most cruel of its enemies.
However, at the same time, senior officials, retired IDF officers, and Israeli businessmen do not hesitate to work with the Qataris when it suits their interests. Experts on Qatar who spoke with "Hayom" paint a problematic and disturbing picture of the web of ties between Jerusalem and Doha, but clarify that a structured and consistent policy is needed. Shooting from the hip and populist statements will only cause harm.
"Qatar's name in the world is already truly tarnished," says Prof. Yossi Mann, a senior researcher of society and economy in the Arab Gulf at Bar-Ilan University. "Its identification with the October 7 massacre and with the support for Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood has created awareness. We can definitely tell the world that Qatar poses a threat, that it is the one behind the Muslim Brotherhood, that it maintains ties with Iran, and has supported every problematic factor in the region. Any country that has challenges with radical Muslim minorities should know that there is a chance that Qatar is behind the scenes there."
Cards that are hard to beat
"I think that what Israel did in saying that Qatar is identified with October 7 and with the incitement has already harmed it," adds Prof. Mann. "Regarding the question of whether to define it as an enemy state, from an internal perspective it seems right, but one must ask how other parties in the world look at it. I think the barometer is the UAE. If the 'Al Jazeera' network is not active in the UAE, why do we need it here? We should say that what is good for others is also good for us."
According to the expert, Qatar holds a "perfect trinity" of influence: money, media outlets, and influence over religious forces. Furthermore, the Americans' ongoing relationship with Doha makes fighting this "entity" highly complex.
The failed attack
Dr. Yoel Guzansky, head of the Gulf program at the INSS, recalls that Israel attacked in Qatar in September 2025 to eliminate the Hamas leadership and failed. "This action brought tension between us and the Americans for a while and did not help at all. The attack did not harm Qatar's image and brought it a lot of dividends. It brought the Gulf states closer to it, and led the Qataris to get closer to the US, receiving a defense agreement that no other country in the Gulf received."
Guzansky emphasizes the need for a national "reset": "If Qatar is a sophisticated country, then let's be sophisticated. Israel has accused it of harming it for years, yet behind the scenes, it cooperated with Qatar in all sorts of ways, including bringing money into Hamas. We need to understand who this country is, how it harms our interests, and whether our methods are worthwhile."
Double fear
Qatari diplomats this week angrily rejected claims that the emirate supports terrorism, asserting that aid to Gaza was "humanitarian only" and carried out in coordination with Israel.
"It is likely that this is a double fear that the issue will arouse factors in Washington who also identify the Qatari threat," estimates Dr. Ariel Admoni, an expert on Qatar at Ariel University. "Qatar is a sophisticated enemy, and therefore the mode of action must also be sophisticated. Establishing an inter-ministerial team that will coordinate actions on a small scale—in the economic, media, intelligence, and security fields—is the way to deal with the head of the octopus and hit specifically the fists of the arms with hard work."
