Yossi Schwartz ISL (RCIT section in Israel/Occupied Palestine) 14.09.2025
In the wake of Israel’s attack on Doha in an attempt to assassinate senior Hamas officials, Arab countries gather in Qatar to deliver fiery but virtually empty speeches.
Today, Haaretz political commentator Zvi Barel writes:
“For the third time in two years, a “special” Arab-Islamic summit is being held in Doha, the capital of Qatar, which is framed as a demonstration of regional solidarity with the host, which was attacked by Israel. Gaza may star at the top, but only as a supporting actress in a show designed to call on Washington to curb the Israeli threat. The attack in Qatar made it clear to its neighbors and the countries of the region that the hostage deal, the campaign against Hamas, and the occupation of the Gaza Strip confront them with a concrete threat from which even their status as an ally of the United States does not protect them from it.
In briefings to senior Arab media, mainly Qatari and Egyptian, “practical” ideas such as severing ties with Israel or downgrading the diplomatic representation of countries with which it has diplomatic relations, economic sanctions, or establishing a “special action committee” to act against it “on the political and legal level.” The participants also revived the idea of establishing a multinational Arab force that would protect the countries of the region from foreign attacks, i.e., Israeli ones. The previous peaks, the first in November 2023 and the second a year later, yielded mostly bold and multi-clause statements.
The attack in Qatar could add Iran to an alliance that Israel and the United States will regret.
On the face of it, no more than fiery speeches, condemnations of Israel, and expressions of support for Qatar’s “sister” country, whose sovereignty has been violated by the Israeli Air Force, should not be expected.
Israel can (still) rely on the American veto in the Security Council, which will prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state and will combine the General Assembly resolution with other declarative resolutions that raise dust in the drawer. However, it is impossible to ignore the international sentiment that has strengthened in recent months. The General Assembly’s resolution is not just another gesture designed to wrap the “Palestinian problem” in solidarity; The two-state solution is now perceived as a practical move aimed at ending the war in Gaza, curbing Israel’s ambition to occupy the Gaza Strip and annex the West Bank, and delimiting Israel’s military sphere of activity in the region. This is a direct continuation of the formal sanctions imposed by Germany, Norway, Spain, and Britain, the commercial severance between Israel and Turkey, and the “gray” boycott of Israeli academic and cultural activity, which many countries and organizations implement.
While Western countries are taking steps against Israel, it is precisely the Arab countries that have signed peace treaties with it that have so far refrained from seriously harming the fragile relations. Egypt, which did not send an ambassador to Israel and refused to accept the credentials of Israeli Ambassador Uri Rotman (his predecessor, Amira Oron, ended her term about a year ago), threatens that “an Israeli attack on Egyptian territory will have serious consequences,” but does not speak in terms of severing relations or canceling the Camp David Accords. It is precisely Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who threatens to “re-examine” the huge gas deal signed in August between the Israeli gas conglomerate and Egypt, and “senior Israeli officials” continue to echo the threat of a consolidation of the Egyptian military system in Sinai, even though the IDF has determined that there is no change in it and that any movement of forces is coordinated between the two countries.
The UAE is in no hurry to waive the threat of harming the peace agreement or imposing economic sanctions such as canceling deals, freezing flights to and from Israel, or denying entry to Israelis. The Emirati explanation for this is that the ties with Israel serve the residents of Gaza, since the UAE and Jordan, which continue to maintain security coordination with Israel, are the two main Arab countries that have received permission to transfer humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and to evacuate civilians in need of medical treatment. Abu Dhabi has also received permission from Israel to extend a water line leading to the Sinai desalination plant to the Mawasi area, thus alleviating the severe water shortage suffered by the displaced people. Insofar as there is a threat to its relations with Jerusalem, it is limited for the time being to the event that Israel annexes the West Bank or parts of it, since preventing annexation was the main reason on which the EU relied on its willingness to sign the agreement with Israel.
There is no doubt that the Netanyahu government perceives the establishment of a Palestinian mini-state dependent on its existence in Israel as a betrayal of its interest in Greater Israel. But as far as the Palestinian people are concerned, a mini-state on 20% of the land of Palestine and without the return of the refugees is a cheap and crude joke that will allow more settlements in this territory.
The Arab states have no intention of going to war against Israel, and none of them, including Qatar, has even hinted at its intention to bend Trump’s hand by freezing their commitments to invest trillions of dollars in the United States. But the conference that begins today in Doha will not focus only on Gaza: it is intended to send a strong message to the United States and demand that it fulfill its commitment and guarantee the security of its allies against another ally, which has signed peace treaties with some of them but behaves like an enemy state.”