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Trump Should Be Wary of the Mirage in Doha

US President Donald Trump meets with the Emir of Qatar during their bilateral meeting on May 21, 2017, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Photo: Official White House Photo/Shealah Craighead.

As President Donald Trump prepares for his upcoming visit to Doha — the first by a sitting US president in more than two decades — he enters a carefully staged production. For Qatar, this is not just diplomacy; it’s branding.

Trump’s presence lends prestige, legitimacy, and a headline-grabbing affirmation of Qatar’s role on the global stage. But behind the polished welcome and rehearsed talking points, lies a regime whose actions often contradict its polished image.

Qatar has spent years cultivating influence not only in the Middle East, but across American institutions. Its strategy is subtle but pervasive. Billions have flowed from Doha into elite US universities, think tanks, lobbying firms, and real estate. Qatar is not merely investing in buildings or research — it’s investing in narrative control. From Ivy League campuses to policy roundtables in Washington, Qatari money shapes conversations, funds sympathetic analysis, and quietly steers public discourse in ways that protect its interests. This is soft power with sharp consequences.

In foreign policy, Qatar plays all sides. It hosts the largest US air base in the region, while maintaining open relationships with the Taliban, Hamas, and Iranian proxies. It markets itself as a mediator, yet many of the conflicts it “mediates” are ones in which it has a direct stake.

Its state-funded media outlet, Al Jazeera, speaks the language of press freedom while pushing deeply polarizing content across the region. These contradictions are not accidents — they are part of a broader strategy to appear indispensable to every player while being accountable to none. Trump, who built his political rise on challenging the foreign policy establishment and calling out global hypocrisy, should approach this visit with clear eyes.

He understands the cost of being used by regimes that speak the language of partnership while pursuing their own agendas behind closed doors. The president’s base expects candor, not ceremony. If this trip is to reflect the “America First” principles that Trump championed, it must not devolve into a PR victory for a country that has long evaded scrutiny.

Qatar’s defenders often point to its utility: its role in negotiating hostage releases, its open channels to groups no one else will speak to, its deep financial ties to the West. But utility is not the same as alignment. Hosting US troops does not entitle a regime to impunity. Providing access does not absolve complicity. Qatar’s ongoing ties to Hamas, framed as pragmatic diplomacy, have done little to disrupt the cycle of violence in Gaza. Its outreach to Iran has served its own hedging strategy, not American stability. These are not alliances — they are wagers.

This visit offers Trump the chance to reset expectations. He does not need to provoke or insult his hosts, but he must be direct. What has Qatar done to earn the deepening of strategic ties? Has it reined in the ideological extremism enabled by its networks? Has it improved transparency in its financial systems? Has it addressed legitimate concerns about its influence over American educational and policymaking institutions?

These are not hostile questions — they are the basic inquiries any serious leader should ask before elevating a partner.

Moreover, Trump must recognize how this visit will be used by Doha — not just regionally, but in Western capitals and media. Qatar excels at turning symbolism into leverage. A handshake becomes a headline, a summit becomes a signal. Trump’s image is powerful, and the Qataris know that projecting friendship with him bolsters their credibility far beyond the Gulf. But friendship requires mutual honesty, not staged harmony. If the visit glosses over core contradictions, it sends the wrong message — not just to Qatar, but to other authoritarian states watching closely.

While this trip is not focused on Israel, the implications are inescapable. Qatar’s longstanding support for Hamas — and its ambiguous stance toward normalization — reflect a broader refusal to take a definitive stand on peace. Its aid to Gaza, while framed as humanitarian, often functions as leverage over a population held hostage by its rulers. Trump does not need to lecture his hosts on Israel policy, but he must not ignore the regional impact of Qatar’s actions either. Any meaningful US-Qatar partnership must include a commitment to ending double-dealing with violent actors.

Qatar is not just a small Gulf state with money — it is a global operator with a sophisticated PR engine and an appetite for influence. From campus lecture halls to Capitol Hill, its footprint in American life is larger than most citizens realize. That influence deserves scrutiny, not celebration. Trump’s visit should be used to clarify boundaries, not blur them.

This moment gives Trump a choice: lend his brand to a carefully choreographed narrative, or reaffirm the disruptive clarity that has defined his foreign policy. Qatar needs Trump more than Trump needs Qatar. That leverage should be used not to flatter, but to demand more — more transparency, more accountability, and more alignment with the values that the US claims to defend.

Amine Ayoub, a fellow at the Middle East Forum, is a policy analyst and writer based in Morocco. Follow him on X: @amineayoubx 

The post Trump Should Be Wary of the Mirage in Doha first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Security Warning to Israelis Vacationing Abroad Ahead of holidays

A passenger arrives to a terminal at Ben Gurion international airport before Israel bans international flights, January 25, 2021. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

i24 NewsAhead of the Jewish High Holidays, Israel’s National Security Council (NSC) published the latest threat assessment to Israelis abroad from terrorist groups to the public on Sunday, in order to increase the Israeli public’s awareness of the existing terrorist threats around the world and encourage individuals to take preventive action accordingly.

The NSC specified that the warning is an up-to-date reflection of the main trends in the activities of terrorist groups around the world and their impact on the level of threat posed to Israelis abroad during these times, but the travel warnings and restrictions themselves are not new.

“As the Gaza war continues and in parallel with the increasing threat of terrorism, the National Security Headquarters stated it has recognized a trend of worsening and increasing violent antisemitic incidents and escalating steps by anti-Israel groups, to the point of physically harming Israelis and Jews abroad. This is in light of, among other things, the anti-Israel narrative and the negative media campaign by pro-Palestinian elements — a trend that may encourage and motivate extremist elements to carry out terrorist activities against Israelis or Jews abroad,” the statement read.

“Therefore, the National Security Bureau is reinforcing its recommendation to the Israeli public to act with responsibility during this time when traveling abroad, to check the status of the National Security Bureau’s travel warnings (before purchasing tickets to the destination,) and to act in accordance with the travel warning recommendations and the level of risk in the country they are visiting,” it listed, adding that, as illustrated in the past year, these warnings are well-founded and reflect a tangible and valid threat potential.

The statement also emphasized the risk of sharing content on social media networks indicating current or past service in the Israeli security forces, as these posts increase the risk of being marked by various parties as a target. “Therefore, the National Security Council recommends that you do not upload to social networks, in any way, content that indicates service in the security forces, operational activity, or similar content, as well as real-time locations.”

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Israel Intensifies Gaza City Bombing as Rubio Arrives

Displaced Palestinians, fleeing northern Gaza due to an Israeli military operation, move southward after Israeli forces ordered residents of Gaza City to evacuate to the south, in the central Gaza Strip September 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

Israeli forces destroyed at least 30 residential buildings in Gaza City and forced thousands of people from their homes, Palestinian officials said, as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived on Sunday to discuss the future of the conflict.

Israel has said it plans to seize the city, where about a million Palestinians have been sheltering, as part of its declared aim of eliminating the terrorist group Hamas, and has intensified attacks on what it has called Hamas’ last bastion.

The group’s political leadership, which has engaged in on-and-off negotiations on a possible ceasefire and hostage release deal, was targeted by Israel in an airstrike in Doha on Tuesday in an attack that drew widespread condemnation.

Qatar will host an emergency Arab-Islamic summit on Monday to discuss the next moves. Rubio said Washington wanted to talk about how to free the 48 hostages – of whom 20 are believed to be still alive – still held by Hamas in Gaza and rebuild the coastal strip.

“What’s happened, has happened,” he said. “We’re gonna meet with them (the Israeli leadership). We’re gonna talk about what the future holds,” Rubio said before heading to Israel where he will stay until Tuesday.

ABRAHAM ACCORDS AT RISK

He was expected to visit the Western Wall Jewish prayer site in Jerusalem on Sunday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and hold talks with him during the visit.

US officials described Tuesday’s strike on the territory of a close US ally as a unilateral escalation that did not serve American or Israeli interests. Rubio and US President Donald Trump both met Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani on Friday.

Netanyahu signed an agreement on Thursday to push ahead with a settlement expansion plan that would cut across West Bank land that the Palestinians seek for a state – a move the United Arab Emirates warned would undermine the US-brokered Abraham accords that normalized UAE relations with Israel.

Israel, which blocked all food from entering Gaza for 11 weeks earlier this year, has been allowing more aid into the enclave since late July to prevent further food shortages, though the United Nations says far more is needed.

It says it wants civilians to leave Gaza City before it sends more ground forces in. Tens of thousands of people are estimated to have left but hundreds of thousands remain in the area. Hamas has called on people not to leave.

Israeli army forces have been operating inside at least four eastern suburbs for weeks, turning most of at least three of them into wastelands. It is closing in on the center and the western areas of the territory, where most of the displaced people are taking shelter.

Many are reluctant to leave, saying there is not enough space or safety in the south, where Israel has told them to go to what it has designated as a humanitarian zone.

Some say they cannot afford to leave while others say they were hoping the Arab leaders meeting on Monday in Qatar would pressure Israel to scrap its planned offensive.

“The bombardment intensified everywhere and we took down the tents, more than twenty families, we do not know where to go,” said Musbah Al-Kafarna, displaced in Gaza City.

Israel said it had completed five waves of air strikes on Gaza City over the past week, targeting more than 500 sites, including Hamas reconnaissance and sniper sites, buildings containing tunnel openings and weapons depots.

Local officials, who do not distinguish between militant and civilian casualties, say at least 40 people were killed by Israeli fire across the enclave, a least 28 in Gaza City alone.

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Turkey Warns of Escalation as Israel Expands Strikes Beyond Gaza

Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a press conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (not seen) at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, May 13, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas

i24 NewsAn Israeli strike targeting Hamas officials in Qatar has sparked unease among several Middle Eastern countries that host leaders of the group, with Turkey among the most alarmed.

Officials in Ankara are increasingly worried about how far Israel might go in pursuing those it holds responsible for the October 7 attacks.

Israel’s prime minister effectively acknowledged that the Qatar operation failed to eliminate the Hamas leadership, while stressing the broader point the strike was meant to make: “They enjoy no immunity,” the government said.

On X, Prime Minister Netanyahu went further, writing that “the elimination of Hamas leaders would put an end to the war.”

A senior Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, summed up Ankara’s reaction: “The attack in Qatar showed that the Israeli government is ready to do anything.”

Legally and diplomatically, Turkey occupies a delicate position. As a NATO member, any military operation or targeted killing on its soil could inflame tensions within the alliance and challenge mutual security commitments.

Analysts caution, however, that Israel could opt for covert measures, operations carried out without public acknowledgement, a prospect that has increased anxiety in governments across the region.

Israeli officials remain defiant. In an interview with Ynet, Minister Ze’ev Elkin said: “As long as we have not stopped them, we will pursue them everywhere in the world and settle our accounts with them.” The episode underscores growing fears that efforts to hunt Hamas figures beyond Gaza could widen regional friction and complicate diplomatic relationships.

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