11.09.2025, Riyadh.
Qatar hosts the largest US military base in the Middle East, it has purchased billions of dollars’ worth of defense systems from the United States, and recently gifted President Trump a luxurious Boeing jet. However, on Tuesday, none of this stopped Israel, Washington’s key ally, from launching a brazen military attack on Qatari territory.
It was an assassination attempt on senior Hamas officials who had gathered to discuss a ceasefire proposal and suspend the war in Gaza, an agreement that Trump himself supported, The New York Times wrote on September 11.
The Israeli strike caused shock in Gulf capitals, which in recent years had been viewed by Israel as potential allies and which for a long time regarded the United States as their main guarantor of security.
Israel’s readiness to strike a Gulf state marks a potential turning point for the region, long dominated by US-led alliances and interests.
“This is a litmus test,” said Bader Al-Saif, assistant professor of history at Kuwait University. If Gulf states’ leaders “do nothing decisive now, they will become merely part of Israel’s orbit of influence and a regional order led by Israel.”
The fossil-fuel-rich Gulf states, such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and Bahrain, have in recent years grown increasingly ambitious, using their vast wealth to expand their influence worldwide. Collectively, these countries control around $4 trillion in sovereign wealth fund assets, and some of them wield significant influence over global energy markets.
Their domestic agendas rely on their reputation as a “safe haven” for trade, investment, and tourism in an otherwise unstable Middle East, a reputation directly undermined by Israel’s strike. Military retaliation by Gulf states is out of the question, as further escalation would damage the internal interests of Gulf states’ leaders. And despite dissatisfaction with US policies in the region, they still depend on US military support, The New York Times notes.
But “they have a multitude of tools at their disposal,” Al-Saif argued, including diplomacy and economic leverage. If Gulf sovereign wealth funds decide to take actions “that harm the interests of Israel or the USA,” it could have an impact.
How the Gulf states will respond remains unclear. The issue will be addressed at an Arab-Islamic summit in Doha in the coming days. What is clear, however, is that, once again, Israel’s actions are questioning the usefulness of US security guarantees, this time just months after Trump toured the region, praising on its leaders and signing numerous business deals, the publication concludes.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
