By  Henry Srebrnik, [Halifax] Chronicle Herald

Some observers have suggested Qatar as a possible mediator between Israel and Hamas, but Henry Srebrnik questions whether this is really feasible. - Kazuo Ota/Unsplash

With hostilities now into the second week, some observers have suggested Qatar as a possible mediator between Israel and Hamas. But how feasible is this?

Most people know the Gulf state as, among other things, the home of the Arabic-language international news television network Al Jazeera, based in Dohar, and the host of last fall’s World Cup of soccer.

While Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have increasingly moved away from supporting political Islam, Qatar has taken a different approach. Qatar funds an assertive Islamist milieu in the West.

Fabulously rich

The top Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders, including Ismail Haniyeh, live in Qatar. It has hosted Hamas and Taliban representatives, and its support for the Muslim Brotherhood, stretching back many decades, became a serious source of friction with its neighbours. Indeed, when the Brotherhood’s candidate Mohamed Morsi won the 2012 Egyptian election, he quickly received a $7.5 billion loan from Qatar.

For its small size, energy-rich Qatar has implemented the single most sophisticated, sustained, successful effort by any foreign nation or interest group to shape Western policymaking — especially American opinion — in its favor. How? Because it is fabulously rich.

Most people know Qatar as the host of last fall’s World Cup of soccer. - Reuters

 Qatar has the highest per capita income in the world, at $114,210, in a total population of 2.5 million, most of which are guest workers. Only 11 per cent are citizens.

Qatar’s influence-buying strategies are a textbook example of how to transform cash into soft power. The amount of money that Qatar has poured into local governments, universities, schools, educational organizations, think tanks and media across America is significant. Qatar’s $3.4 billion in donations to Middle Eastern Studies programs in the United States is well-known.

“It’s a tiny place with very significant resources,” according to Bernard Haykel, a professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University. “The Qataris want to protect themselves and make themselves indispensable. They do that in part by making Qatar a convening venue.

“So far Qatar has been very successful in its strategy. It has survived because its strategy is based on wanting to maintain its sovereignty and survival. Not to be absorbed into Saudi Arabia or some other country. It punches well above its weight, has much greater influence than its size,” he added in an interview given to an Indian media outlet last November. The emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, even met President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, D.C. in July 2019.

Pragmatic relationship

Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at the British-based think tank Chatham House, sees Qatar as a viable mediator between Israel and Hamas.

“Qatar has long had a pragmatic relationship where it has used financial incentives to manage and de-escalate various rounds of tensions and war between Israel and Hamas,” adding that she sees Qatar as “a natural go-between to secure the hostages and find entry points to de-escalate and protect people on the ground as the humanitarian issue worsens.”

"So far Qatar has been very successful in its strategy. It has survived because its strategy is based on wanting to maintain its sovereignty and survival. Not to be absorbed into Saudi Arabia or some other country. It punches well above its weight, has much greater influence than its size."

— Bernard Haykel, Princeton professor

But Iran is certainly involved behind the scenes in this war, and Qatar’s ties to Tehran are legion. In February 2022, 14 bilateral agreements were signed in Doha with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, touching on everything from trade to energy and tourism. Recently, Qatar took possession of six billion dollars in Iranian funds as part of a deal to free Americans detained in Iran.

And while Iran has provided Hamas with military backing, Qatar has supplied funding and political support.

“Their financial support of $30 million per month is proven and public,” remarked Didier Billion, deputy director of the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS). “These payments are justified to pay civil servants in Gaza, and we know perfectly well that the latter are members of Hamas.”

Given all this, can Qatar serve as a mediator? True, it has already mediated between the belligerents several times in the past, such as during the 2014 Israel-Gaza War. But this time it’s different. So it’s doubtful Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will see Qatar as a reliable go-between.