In an op-ed appearing in The New York Times today, Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Ron Prosor observed that even as most of Hamas’ Arab sponsors, “which historically have included Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia,” have “abandoned the terrorist group,” the country of Qatar has emerged as one of the terrorist group’s most prominent backers. According to Prosor, the hundreds of millions of dollars sent from the Emirate to Hamas would justify each terror tunnel or rocket containing a sign attached saying, “Made possible through a kind donation from the emir of Qatar.”
Hamas is not the only beneficiary of Qatar’s largesse, said Prosor; Qatar has been “willing to dally with any partner, no matter how abhorrent,” including “Qaeda-affiliated groups in Syria, and a base for leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Taliban.” Even the opprobrium of other Gulf kingdoms for its destabilizing activities hasn’t discouraged Qatar.
This hasn’t stopped the Persian Gulf monarchy from serving as a Club Med for terrorists. It harbors leading Islamist radicals like the spiritual leader of the global Muslim Brotherhood, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who issued a religious fatwa endorsing suicide attacks, and the Doha-based history professor Abdul Rahman Omeir al-Naimi, whom the United States Department of Treasury has named as a “terrorist financier” for Al Qaeda. Qatar also funds a life of luxury for Khaled Meshal, the fugitive leader of Hamas.
Mr. Meshal’s uncompromising stance — he has vowed never to recognize Israel — has long been an obstacle to reaching a peace deal. But behind Hamas, Qatar is pulling the strings. According to a report last week in the pan-Arab daily newspaper Al Hayat, Qatar even threatened to expel Mr. Meshal if Hamas accepted Egyptian proposals for a long-term cease-fire in Gaza. All because Doha wants a starring role in any cease-fire agreement between Hamas and Israel.
Prosor warned that “Qatar’s continued sponsorship of Hamas all but guarantees that … the terrorist group will rearm and renew hostilities with Israel” and that therefore if the world wants peace, Qatar must be told, “Stop financing Hamas.”
In Qatar’s Rise and America’s Tortured Foreign Policy, which appeared in the August 2014 issue of The Tower Magazine, Jonathan Spyer also wrote about the isolation of Hamas and Qatar, and how Hamas’ latest war represented an attempt by both entities to become relevant again.
Today, the alliance of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and other moderates is the strongest force among the Sunni Arab states. Qatar has few regional allies left. Neither does Hamas. Indeed, over the last year, the movement has been trying to regain favor with the Iranians. So the war on Israel, supported by Qatar, was a desperate move by Hamas. Broke and presiding over a failed economy, unable to break through Egypt’s sealed border and restored power, the terrorist group and its allies sought escalation with Israel. It was a way for the Emirate and its Muslim Brotherhood partner to try and achieve a return to relevance and influence, and to end a period in which Qatar’s regional star appeared to be fading. Notably, of Hamas’ initial five demands to end the conflict, only one was of Israel, while four were of Egypt.
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