Oded Ailam warns that Qatar’s “mediator” playbook — hosting terror leaders while buying global influence — turned Doha into a dangerous enabler, not a peacemaker, and must be exposed and isolated.
Qatar’s carefully polished image as a mediator and global power broker is nothing but a dangerous deception, warns Oded Ailam, former head of the Counterterrorism Division in the Mossad and now a senior researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA).
Speaking to Arutz Sheva–Israel National News, Ailam compared Qatar’s strategy to a Charlie Chaplin sketch: “They send a boy to break the windows, then arrive to fix them.” Behind its glossy diplomacy, sporting spectacles, and prestige projects lies a regime that bankrolls jihad and manipulates the West.
“Qatar has built itself into a diplomatic, economic, and media empire,” Ailam explained, “but its rise is fueled by its role as the middleman of terror.” From mediating between the Taliban and Washington to positioning itself in Syrian and Nigerian conflicts, Doha profits by inflating its influence. Hosting the World Cup and now bidding for the 2036 Olympics, Qatar seeks legitimacy as a peacemaker—even as it funnels billions to terror.
The façade crumbles when the numbers are revealed: since 2012, Qatar has transferred at least $1.8 billion to Hamas, sustaining its terror infrastructure after Syria expelled Hamas leaders. “Qatar is the patron of Hamas’ agenda, with Al Jazeera its propaganda arm,” Ailam stressed. Even Hamas hostage videos, he revealed, were staged by Al Jazeera crews.
Just hours after Hamas’ barbaric October 7 massacre, Qatar’s foreign minister rushed to blame Israel instead of condemning terror. Ailam emphasized: “Qatar has never held Hamas accountable. On the contrary—they embolden the terrorists, harden their positions, and prolong hostage talks.”
He warned of “Qatargate”-style corruption scandals, pointing to Qatar’s growing influence in Europe and America. “They own football clubs, skyscrapers, even part of the Empire State Building,” Ailam said. “They buy politicians—some already on trial in France and beyond—through money, gifts, even cryptocurrency. What we see is only the tip of the iceberg.”
The al-Thani ruling family, Ailam noted, is driven not by classic jihadist ideology but by a quest for dominance. “They know they cannot rule the world militarily, but they can dominate through terror sponsorship, wealth, and corruption. They are buying Europe, piece by piece.”
Israel, he concluded, must shed its illusions about Qatar’s “honest broker” role: “Hostages are not freed because of Doha’s goodwill but because of Israeli military pressure. Qatar is not a mediator—it is a terror sponsor in disguise.”
