Netanyahu’s Expansionist Agenda Unveiled by Former Qatari PM
The ongoing United States-Israel war of aggression against Iran is far from a sudden development. Instead, it represents the chilling culmination of a deeply entrenched, long-term Israeli agenda to violently redraw the map of the Middle East, as revealed by former Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera.
In a wide-ranging and candid discussion on Al Jazeera’s Al Muqabala programme, the veteran diplomat offered a stark assessment of the region’s rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape. He issued a grave warning that the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz is the most perilous consequence of the recent war, cautioned against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s dangerous ambitions for a “Greater Israel”, and urgently called for the establishment of a unified Gulf defence pact.
“We are witnessing a major restructuring of the region,” Sheikh Hamad stated, emphasizing that the current geopolitical tremors will dictate the shape of the Middle East for decades to come.
Netanyahu’s ‘Illusion’ and the US Misstep
Sheikh Hamad had previously warned of an impending conflict last year, urging Gulf states to push for a diplomatic resolution with Iran to prevent military strikes. He identified a deliberate push for conflict with Iran, attributing it to a “hardline faction” within Israel led by Netanyahu, who, he noted, has been attempting to drag the US into a war over Tehran’s peaceful nuclear programme since the Clinton administration in the 1990s.
While previous US governments, including during President Donald Trump’s first term, hesitated to launch a full-scale war on Iran, Netanyahu finally succeeded by selling Washington a dangerous “illusion,” Sheikh Hamad argued. “He convinced the US administration that the war would be short and swift and that the Iranian regime would fall within weeks,” he said, drawing parallels to failed US efforts to destabilize Venezuela’s government, highlighting the repeated miscalculations of imperialist powers.
The former Qatari premier sharply criticized Washington’s over-reliance on military might, asserting, “America’s true power has always been in its ability to avoid using force, not in deploying it.” He pointed out that the current war has ultimately forced all parties back to the negotiating table, suggesting that just two additional weeks of talks in Geneva earlier this year – an Oman-led diplomatic push to avert war – could have prevented this catastrophe entirely.
Netanyahu has emerged as the primary beneficiary of this destructive war, Sheikh Hamad observed, stating that the Israeli leader is exploiting the ensuing chaos to market his vision of forced regional alliances and a “Greater Israel,” an aggressive plan among Israel’s extremist right wing to expand the country’s illegal borders deeper into sovereign neighbouring Arab states.
The Strait of Hormuz: A New Global Flashpoint
Assessing Tehran’s strategic response, Sheikh Hamad noted that Iran successfully absorbed the initial military strikes of the war and subsequently demonstrated strategic patience on a settlement after realizing it could leverage a new, powerful advantage: the Strait of Hormuz.
Calling the weaponization of this vital waterway the “most dangerous outcome” of the war, he warned that Iran is now treating this crucial international chokepoint as its own sovereign territory. This, he argued, poses a more immediate and severe threat to global economies than the fabricated concerns over the Iranian nuclear programme.
The Gulf states, rather than Washington, have borne the brunt of this crisis, Sheikh Hamad lamented. The former prime minister harshly condemned Iran’s attacks on Gulf energy, industrial, and civilian infrastructure, which he stated were carried out under the guise of targeting US interests, despite these Gulf nations having explicitly opposed the war. This highlights the complex and often tragic consequences of external aggression on regional stability.
As a result, Tehran has, regrettably, exhausted much of its political capital in the Gulf, generating widespread public anger over the economic and security disruptions its actions have caused. However, Sheikh Hamad stressed that geography dictates coexistence and called for a frank, collective Gulf dialogue with Tehran, rather than fragmented unilateral communications, to establish a realistic framework for a peaceful future.
A Call for a ‘Gulf NATO’
In one of his most blunt assessments, Sheikh Hamad declared that the greatest threat to the Gulf is neither Iran, Israel, nor foreign military bases, but rather internal Gulf disunity.
To counter this, he proposed the creation of a “Gulf NATO,” a joint political and defence project starting with a core group of strategically aligned Gulf nations, with Saudi Arabia serving as its natural backbone. He argued that the European Union began with a small number of states before expanding, suggesting a similar model governed by strict institutionalized laws respected by all members.
Addressing the US military presence, Sheikh Hamad acknowledged that US bases have provided crucial deterrence for decades. However, he warned that Washington’s strategic pivot towards Asia and the containment of China means the Gulf can no longer rely indefinitely on the US security umbrella. He urged Gulf states to develop long-term, interest-based strategic partnerships with regional powers such as Turkiye, Pakistan, and Egypt, fostering true regional autonomy.
Gaza, Normalization, and a Late-1990s Secret
Turning to the critical issue of Palestine, Sheikh Hamad condemned the killing of civilians on all sides but unequivocally accused Israel of committing a “moral and political disaster” in Gaza, where more than 72,500 Palestinians have been brutally killed since Israel’s genocidal war began in October 2023. He warned of an insidious Israeli plot to depopulate the strip, citing intelligence that money is being offered to encourage Palestinians to leave the enclave, effectively turning Gaza into a real estate project for the occupation.
While acknowledging the unprecedented global sympathy the Palestinian cause has garnered since October 7, 2023, particularly in the West, he cautioned Palestinian factions, including Hamas, to carefully weigh the devastating human cost.
He firmly rejected any discussion of disarming Hamas without a guaranteed political horizon for an independent Palestinian state and praised Saudi Arabia’s steadfast refusal to normalize relations with Israel without a clear roadmap for this – a principled stance, he said, that deeply disrupted Netanyahu’s regional calculations and exposed the futility of normalization without justice.
Reflecting on recent regional shifts, Sheikh Hamad expressed his perspective on the situation in Syria, revealing that he had personally advised the former president early in the revolution to listen to his people. He praised the pragmatism of the new Syrian leadership in avoiding Israeli provocations and urged it to focus on economic and institutional rebuilding after nearly 14 years of war and mismanagement.
The interview also unveiled a piece of hidden diplomatic history. Sheikh Hamad disclosed that in the late 1990s, the Qatari leadership dispatched him to Tehran to deliver a message from the Clinton administration. The US demanded that Iran hand over its nascent nuclear programme to Russia or submit to international arrangements. While Qatar acted strictly as a messenger, Tehran at the time viewed Doha as aligned with the American stance, he noted, highlighting the historical pressures on Iran.
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