A crucial element of President Trump’s ambitious America First approach to U.S. national security is solid support for the State of Israel.
This policy is intended to stand with America’s closest and most important ally and reverse the damage done to this relationship by President Biden’s incompetent and wrongheaded foreign policies.
As a result, Donald Trump has become the most pro-Israel president in American history.
This is what makes Israel’s recent airstrikes to kill Hamas officials in Doha, Qatar so perplexing because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered this attack without consulting with or informing President Trump in advance.
Israel’s Sept. 9, 2025, airstrikes against a Qatari government residential complex in Doha, Qatar killed six people, including a Qatari, but did not kill any senior Hamas leaders.
There are good reasons why Israel wanted to take out these Hamas officials.
The Hamas leaders were terrorists, not diplomats.
They were the masterminds of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre against Israel.
After this horrific crime against humanity, Israeli officials vowed that Israel would hunt down and kill every Hamas leader involved in it.
Qatar is one of the few countries to give Hamas leaders refuge to avoid being killed or arrested by Israel in Gaza or the West Bank. (The others are Turkey and Lebanon.)
Hamas leaders have long lived in luxury in Qatari hotels.
The New York Post reported in 2023 that top Hamas leaders living in Qatar became billionaires by stealing foreign aid as well as through payroll and kickback schemes.
The U.S. called on Qatar to expel Hamas leaders after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas mass murder in Israel.
In response to U.S. pressure, Qatari officials expelled Hamas officials in November 2024.
However, they were invited back in late 2024 by the Biden administration to participate in negotiations for a cease-fire and hostage release.
Qatar has also been criticized for funding Hamas because a significant portion of approximately $1.8 billion in Qatari aid to Gaza since 2007 reportedly was diverted to Hamas and used to finance terrorism.
Qatar claims its aid to Gaza was humanitarian and denies directly funding Hamas’s military and terrorist activities.
Israeli leaders apparently decided to attack Hamas leaders in Qatar for the above reasons and because they assessed that diplomacy with Hamas has become pointless since the terrorist group will never agree to a plan to end the war that adequately addresses Israel’s security concerns.
These include ensuring that Gaza is not a security threat following the war and neutralizing Hamas as a military and governing force.
As justifiable as Israeli leaders believe the Sept. 9, 2025, airstrikes on Qatar were, it was unacceptable for the Israeli government to conduct this operation without coordinating it with the United States.
The U.S. learned about the Israeli military operation when CENTCOM detected Israeli planes in the region.
Israel provided a vague, last-minute notification to the U.S. military about a planned strike on Hamas targets, but did not specify the location as Qatar.
It’s inexplicable that Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered such an attack without discussing it with President Trump first or giving the U.S. advanced notice.
It was also reckless for Israel to mount a military operation without notifying President Trump in advance that could damage U.S. relations with another ally – Qatar – and compromise peace talks in Doha that Trump wanted to pursue.
I assume Netanyahu ordered the airstrikes without informing the U.S. in advance because he did not want to risk the possibility that Trump would say “No.”
Netanyahu therefore decided to attack and later apologize to Trump.
I don’t believe airstrikes will have a significant effect on the peace process, nor do I think they will seriously or permanently undermine American relations with Israel or Qatar.
The downside of this attack is that it will create the impression of Israeli recklessness and a schism between Trump and Netanyahu. Although these impressions are false, they will be exploited by Israel’s enemies, critics, and the mainstream media.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Israel and Qatar and to address the blowback from the Israeli airstrikes. In Israel on Monday, Rubio played down U.S. tension with Israel over the attacks but is believed to have privately conveyed President Trump’s displeasure over them.
Rubio visited Qatar on Tuesday to calm Qatari anger and lower regional tensions due to the airstrikes. He also urged Qatar’s leaders to continue their mediation efforts to end the Israel-Hamas war.
Netanyahu and Rubio presented a united front in Jerusalem quite recently, with Netanyahu saying the U.S.-Israel relationship was as “durable as the stones in the Western Wall.”
These words will not be enough to protect the crucial U.S.-Israel alliance and promote regional stability.
Netanyahu also must make a binding commitment that Israel will closely consult with the U.S. on military operations in the region and that he will not order further attacks similar to the airstrikes in Qatar absent any prior consultations with President Trump.
Netanyahu cannot afford to alienate Trump, the only major Western leader supporting Israel in the war with Hamas.
Israel’s attack on Qatar with no advance consultations or notice to the U.S. was not how close allies should treat each other.
Fred Fleitz previously served as National Security Council chief of staff, CIA analyst, and a House Intelligence Committee staff member — Read Fred Fleitz’s reports — Click Here Now.
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