Former Qatar PM: Netanyahu Using Iran War to Reshape the Middle East

Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar, delivered a sharp assessment of the rapidly shifting regional geopolitical landscape, warning that the crisis at the Strait of Hormuz is the most dangerous consequence of the recent war, while criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's expansionist ambitions.

In an interview on Al Jazeera's Al Muqabala program, Sheikh Hamad stressed that the U.S.-Israel war on Iran was not a sudden escalation but the culmination of a long-running Israeli agenda to reshape the Middle East through violence. “We are witnessing a major restructuring of the region,” he said, noting that the current geopolitical shocks will define the Middle East for decades to come.

Sheikh Hamad warned of an impending conflict last year and urged Gulf states to push for a diplomatic solution to prevent military strikes on Iran. He identified a hardline faction in the Israeli government, led by Netanyahu, that is driving the conflict. Netanyahu, according to Sheikh Hamad, has tried to draw the U.S. into a war with Iran since the Clinton administration in the 1990s.

Sheikh Hamad argued that previous U.S. administrations, including the first term of President Donald Trump, hesitated to launch a full-scale war against Iran. However, Netanyahu ultimately succeeded in selling Washington the “illusion” that the war would be short and swift, and that the Iranian regime would collapse within weeks. He criticized Washington's reliance on military power: “America's true strength has always been in its ability to avoid using force, not in deploying it.” He noted that the war ultimately forced all parties back to the negotiating table. In his view, just two more weeks of talks in Geneva earlier this year, an Omani-led diplomatic effort, could have prevented the disaster.

Netanyahu, according to Sheikh Hamad, is the main beneficiary of the war, using chaos to advance his vision of “Greater Israel,” a plan to expand Israel's borders deep into neighboring Arab states.

Strait of Hormuz: A New Global Flashpoint

Assessing Tehran's strategy, Sheikh Hamad said Iran successfully absorbed the initial military strikes of the war and then delayed reaching a deal after realizing it could leverage a new strategic advantage: the Strait of Hormuz. He called the weaponization of this critical waterway the “most dangerous outcome” of the war and warned that Iran now treats it as its own sovereign territory, posing a more direct and severe threat to the global economy than its nuclear program.

Sheikh Hamad criticized Iranian attacks on Gulf energy, industrial, and civilian infrastructure under the pretext of targeting U.S. interests, even though these states opposed the war. As a result, Tehran has drained much of its political capital in the Gulf, sparking widespread public anger. However, he emphasized that geography dictates coexistence and called for a frank collective dialogue between the Gulf and Tehran.

Call for a 'Gulf NATO'

According to Sheikh Hamad, the greatest threat to the Gulf is not Iran, Israel, or foreign military bases, but internal disunity. He proposed forming a “Gulf NATO,” a joint political and defense project starting with a core group of strategically aligned Gulf states, with Saudi Arabia as its natural pillar. He compared this model to the early days of the European Union, which started with only a few countries before expanding.

On the U.S. military presence, Sheikh Hamad acknowledged that American bases have provided crucial deterrence for decades. However, he warned that Washington's strategic pivot to Asia and containing China means the Gulf cannot continue to rely indefinitely on the U.S. security umbrella. He urged Gulf states to develop long-term, interest-based strategic partnerships with regional powers such as Turkey, Pakistan, and Egypt.

Gaza, Normalization, and a Secret from the Late 1990s

On the Palestinian issue, Sheikh Hamad condemned the killing of civilians by all sides, but accused Israel of causing a “moral and political catastrophe” in Gaza, where more than 72,500 Palestinians have been killed since Israel's genocidal war began in October 2023. He warned of an Israeli plot to lay waste to the Gaza Strip, citing information that money has been offered to encourage Palestinians to leave the land, turning Gaza into a real estate project.

While acknowledging unprecedented global empathy for Palestinians since October 7, 2023, Sheikh Hamad urged Palestinian factions, including Hamas, to carefully weigh the enormous human cost. He dismissed any discussion of disarming Hamas without a political horizon guaranteeing an independent Palestinian state. He praised Saudi Arabia's steadfast refusal to normalize relations with Israel without a pathway on this issue, a stance that has upended Netanyahu's regional calculations.

During the interview, Sheikh Hamad also revealed a diplomatic secret: in the late 1990s, Qatar's leadership sent him to Tehran to deliver a message from the Clinton administration. The U.S. asked Iran to hand over its nascent nuclear program to Russia or submit to international agreements.