Israel checkmates Hamas and the Arabs.
The implications of Israel's strike on Tuesday against Hamas leaders in Qatar are profound, and the entire Arab world has been put on notice.
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Sometimes, history turns on a single move, a decisive play that alters the balance of power for years to come.
In the latest geopolitical chess match of the Middle East, Israel has made such a move — one that exposes the contradictions of Arab regimes, neutralizes the pressure tactics of Far-Left Europe, and underscores, once again, that Israel remains the West’s indispensable ally in the region.
In the lead-up to the United Nations General Assembly, which starts today, several Far-Left European countries threatened to “recognize” a “Palestinian state.” This symbolic gesture, meant to appease their domestic activists and to punish Israel diplomatically, was nothing new. For years, Europe has attempted to manipulate Israel through moral posturing, elevating Palestinian victimhood into a political weapon.
Yet Israel’s response was not weakness but strength: It openly mulled annexing parts of Judea and Samaria. This was not only a message to Europe but also to the Arab world: Symbolic recognition could be answered by permanent realities on the ground. Annexation would be irreversible, a reminder that Europe’s resolutions amount to empty gestures compared to Israel’s ability to draw borders in practice.
The Arab powers reacted predictably. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, the two most significant players in the Abraham Accords and beyond, warned that any annexation would jeopardize normalization. It was a classic threat: choose land or peace.
But Israel has long since learned that Arab ultimatums are hollow. Normalization is not a gift Israel must beg for; it is a necessity for Arab regimes seeking technology, security, and legitimacy. The Palestinians are no longer the key to Arab foreign policy, and Arab leaders know it. Annexation, therefore, became both a bargaining chip and a test: would Arab states risk their own economic and security interests merely to posture over Palestine?
The answer was revealed soon enough.
The decisive move came not in Gaza or Judea and Samaria, but in Doha. Days after the Qatari prime minister pressed Hamas to accept a ceasefire deal, Israel struck Hamas leadership gathered in the Qatari capital — carried out with the help of heavy bombs dropped by Israeli fighter jets, within a range of 1,800 kilometers from Israel, to ensure the successful elimination of the senior officials, who were reportedly holding a meeting at the time. Drones also took part in the operation, which was dubbed “Fire Summit.” A total of 10 munitions were dropped in the attack.
The decision to eliminate Hamas senior figures in Qatar was made about a month ago, coordinated in advance with the Americans.1 According to two Israeli sources who spoke to CNN, planning accelerated in recent weeks. The IDF Operations Division initiated a secret battle procedure that included almost two days of preparation discussions, and once a week, senior figures from the Shin Bet, Military Intelligence, and the Operations Division were convened. Last night, the head of the Operations Division finally gave the green light.
Mosab Hassan Yousef, whose father, Sheikh Hassan Yousef, was a founding member of Hamas, told The Jerusalem Post: “This should have been done almost two years ago. Qatar funded Hamas for many years, and Hamas took sanctuary in Qatar. They thought that they could not be reached, and they thought they were immune.”2
The message was thunderous: Not even Qatar, the Arab state most favored by many Western politicians, was immune from Israel’s reach.
This was no ordinary strike. Qatar is home to the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East. For decades, the Qataris have funneled money into Washington and European capitals, cultivating influence with politicians — particularly Left-wing ones. As one politician has said, “You walk by the Qatari embassy in Washington, D.C., and your pockets grow fuller.”
Qatar even “gifted” Donald Trump an airplane earlier this year, and maintains deep personal ties with his envoy, Steve Witkoff, who sold his New York hotel to the Qatar Investment Authority for nearly $623 million in 2023. Witkoff and the Qatari prime minister recently met in Paris to discuss the ceasefire deal, evidence of Qatar’s relentless attempts to position itself as the indispensable broker in the region.
Yet none of that stopped Israel. Not even the symbolism of violating Qatari sovereignty (and by extension, the prestige of the West’s Arab darling) deterred the Jewish state. And crucially, Trump did not stop it either.
While authorizing the strike on Hamas’ leadership in Qatar, IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said Israel will “settle accounts with our enemies” anywhere in the world. “These are the terrorists whose only aspiration was to be the spearhead for the destruction of the State of Israel. We will continue to carry out this mission everywhere, at any range, near and far.”
“We are settling a moral and ethical account on behalf of all the victims of October 7th,” added Zamir. “We will not rest and we will not be silent until we bring back our hostages and defeat Hamas.”
The implications are profound. The strike was not merely about Hamas leaders; it was about the hierarchy of alliances in the Middle East. Europe can threaten recognition, the Arabs can threaten normalization, and Qatar can spend lavishly to buy influence. But when the dust settles, Israel is the West’s number-one ally in the region — militarily, technologically, morally.
By striking in Doha, Israel forced the world to reckon with an uncomfortable truth: The Arab regimes are pawns, not kings. Their threats carry weight only when Israel allows them to. Europe can gesture in the halls of the UN, but it is Israel that acts decisively on the ground. And when American interests are tested, it is not Qatar’s money or Saudi Arabia’s oil that ultimately prevails; it is Israel’s reliability as a partner.
This is not the first time Israel has shifted the board with bold, decisive action. In 1976, Israel stunned the world with Operation Entebbe, flying commandos thousands of miles to rescue hostages in Uganda, humiliating Arab-backed terrorists and proving that Jews would never again be passive victims.
In 1981, Israel bombed Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor, an act universally condemned at the time but vindicated years later as having prevented a nuclear-armed Saddam Hussein. In 2007, Israel quietly destroyed Syria’s secret nuclear reactor, again defying international opinion but protecting the region — and the world — from catastrophe. Each time, Israel acted without waiting for international approval.
Each time, it was proven right by history.
The Doha strike belongs to this lineage: a bold, risky action that demonstrates Israel’s will and capability to act in defense of its people, regardless of the diplomatic consequences.
The “Palestinian” card, once the centerpiece of Arab diplomacy, is collapsing. For decades, Arab states used the Palestinian cause as a bludgeon to extract concessions from the West and to keep their own populations pacified.
But the Abraham Accords, Morocco’s normalization, and Saudi Arabia’s quiet engagement with Israel show that the old playbook no longer works. The Palestinian issue is not the center of gravity it once was; it is a declining asset. The Doha strike symbolizes this collapse: Hamas, once paraded as the face of “resistance,” is now a hunted liability, even in the capitals of its patrons. Israel has forced the Arab world to face the truth: The Palestinians no longer define the region’s future.
Europe, meanwhile, continues to labor under the illusion of relevance. Its threats of “recognition” are pure theater, detached from the realities on the ground. The European Union is divided, its militaries weakened, and its economies dependent on external powers. NATO’s shield is American, not European.
For Israel, Europe’s recognition schemes carry no weight, because they are unenforceable. By mulling annexation in response, Israel flipped the script: What Europe intends as punishment becomes Israel’s opportunity to enshrine permanent borders. Europe threatens paper; Israel answers with reality.
In contrast, America’s reliance on Israel is rooted in hard interests. Israel provides unmatched intelligence on Iran, Hezbollah, ISIS, and global jihad. Israel develops technologies in cyber, defense, and AI that are vital to the U.S. military-industrial complex. And Israel provides something no Arab state can offer: stability and moral clarity in a region otherwise defined by coups, dictatorships, and shifting alliances.
The Doha strike, conducted under Trump’s watch without objection, underscores that when American and Israeli interests align, Arab states’ complaints are noise. Washington will never choose Doha over Jerusalem, because Doha can buy influence, but Israel delivers results.
Arab states like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates now find themselves in a trap of their own making. They have tied normalization to conditions such as “no annexation,” but these conditions are unenforceable. They need Israeli technology, intelligence, and access to Washington far more than Israel needs them. Israel just proved it can act without fear of losing Arab ties, because those ties are dictated not by Palestinian theatrics, but by Arab necessity. By striking in Doha, Israel demonstrated that Arab threats of walking away from normalization are bluffs. The Arabs cannot afford to lose Israel.
And perhaps most importantly, the symbolism of the strike carries enormous psychological weight. To Hamas, it said: Nowhere is safe, not even in the heart of your Qatari sanctuary. To Qatar, it said: Your money and influence cannot shield you from accountability. To Europe, it said: Your recognition games will not restrain Israeli action. To the Arab world, it said: Your threats of halting normalization are hollow. This is the essence of psychological warfare, reshaping the calculations of every adversary simultaneously.
In chess, checkmate is the moment when every escape route is cut off, when the opponent is forced to concede. That is what has happened here. Europe’s recognition ploy, the Arabs’ normalization threats, and Qatar’s cultivated influence — all have been cornered. Israel showed that it will not be bullied by diplomatic theater, Arab leverage, or Qatari money. It can annex if it chooses. It can strike anywhere, even in the heart of America’s Arab protectorate. And it can do so while maintaining the confidence of Washington.
Israel’s enemies still cling to the old playbook of boycotts, UN resolutions, and empty threats. But the board has changed. With every decisive move, from annexation debates to striking terrorists in the heart of Arab capitals, Israel shows that it is the immovable center of the Middle East order.
The Palestinians have lost their leverage, the Europeans their credibility, and the Arab regimes their veto power. Israel is no longer playing defense. It is dictating the game. And the world will have to adjust to the reality that the Jewish state is not just surviving. It’s winning.
“חודש של הכנות: נוהל הקרב החשאי, האור הירוק - והפצצות הכבדות.” Ynet News.
“Son of Hamas to ‘Post’: Qatar strike ‘should have been done two years ago’.” The Jerusalem Post.
In one bold act, Europe has become the Greta Thunberg of international relations.
Just so. What Israel must make clear is the old paradigm is gone forever. Israel will not be forced to negotiate with a people murdering them. There will be no safe havens for the murderers. The Arab states will not be able to play both sides, normalizing relations with Israel while threatening Jerusalem if it does not allow itself to be attacked. They will have to choose. The next step is to find a way to get the Hamas demons hiding in Turkey. They can't be bombed as Turkey is a Nato member. But the Mossad can surely act. And most of all, the snakes in Europe cannot be allowed to appease their radical Muslim residents at Israel's expense. The next time they act in support of the Hamas demons on a world stage Israel should expelled their diplomats and suspend ties.