[Order Michael Finch’s new book, A Time to Stand: HERE. Prof. Jason Hill calls it “an aesthetic and political tour de force.”]
Just over two weeks ago, Israel’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Danny Danon, vigorously defended Israel’s position in the UN Security Council as he took Pakistan to task. Danon stated that “Pakistan cannot change the fact that Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden was sheltered and killed on its soil.” He continued:
When bin Laden was eliminated in Pakistan…the question asked was not “why target a terrorist on foreign soil”? No one asked that question. The question was, “Why was a terrorist given shelter at all?” The same question must be asked today. There was no immunity for bin Laden, and there can be no immunity for Hamas.
Now, in a personal call to Qatar during his visit to the White House, Netanyahu has apologized to Qatar. “Netanyahu dials Qatar PM from White House, apologises for Doha attack on Hamas leadership. Details inside,” by Gulshan Parveen, WION, September 29, 2025:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly apologised to his Qatari counterpart, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, for the Israeli strike in Qatar on September 9. As per a report, the Israeli PM talked to Al Thani via phone call for a few minutes from the White House after being welcomed by US President Donald Trump. He also promised that it would not be repeated.
The Channel 12 report said that Netanyahu apologised for violating Qatari sovereignty in the strike on Doha and expressed regret for the killing of a Qatari security guard in the attack….
It’s obviously no coincidence that Netanyahu’s dial-up to Qatar came from the White House. There was apparently pressure involved, but first let’s look at some of the ramifications for Israel of such an apology. It serves as a withdrawal of the justification by Israel for its strike on Hamas targets in Doha. It also undermines Danny Danon’s valid question to Pakistan about harboring jihad terrorists. Israel’s enemies will use Netanyahu’s apology to Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani as an open admission of wrongdoing by Israel, which does not bode well for the Jewish state. It carries far-reaching implications regarding confidence in Israel’s actions in a world in which anti-Israel forces are dominant. It also reinforces the claims of antisemitic Westerners who view Israel as a state which violates international law, commits genocide, and illegally occupies Palestinian territory.
Apologizing to a terrorist-sponsoring regime such as Qatar is a humiliation to the Jewish state in front of every terrorist-sponsoring state and jihadist group. Meanwhile, “Coalition ministers and opposition MKs slammed” Netanyahu for apologizing to Qatar, “calling it weak and a disgrace.”
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir stated that “The strike on senior Hamas officials, the masterminds of the October 7 massacre, in the enemy state of Qatar was an important, just, and profoundly moral strike.
“It is very good that it happened. Whoever sends monsters to burn babies, rape women, and abduct elderly women must know that there is no place in the world that is safe for them.”
In the wake of Netanyahu’s apology, President Trump has unveiled his own Gaza peace plan to bring an end to the Gaza war. The “20-point plan for ending the Israel-Hamas war and establishing a postwar governance in the war-battered Palestinian territory. Trump’s plan would establish a temporary governing board that would be headed by Trump and include former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.”
Perhaps President Trump is also trying to unite the MAGA camp, given the misguided part of it that rejects Israel as an important part of an America First policy, even though Israel is on the front lines of the global jihad.
