Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Friday that his country held no animosity toward Israel but that Israel must reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians. Speaking in Singapore at an event sponsored by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Al Thani was questioned about a potential Saudi-US-Israeli deal. He asserted that Qatar’s position had been consistent, emphasizing that each Gulf Cooperation Council member state—including Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, which normalized relations with Israel in 2020—makes its own foreign policy decisions.
Al Thani endorsed the 2001 Saudi-led Arab Peace Initiative as the best pathway forward. The initiative proposes normalization between Israel and Arab states if Israel fully withdraws from the occupied territories and supports a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. “So any agreement [of an Arab nation] with the Israelis doesn’t represent peace, the peace [could be] represented only between them and the Palestinians,” he said.
Qatar has no official diplomatic ties with Israel but cooperated last year to allow Israelis to attend the World Cup. It has also facilitated the distribution of Qatari aid in the Gaza Strip and served as a mediator in regional conflicts, including cease-fires between Israel and armed Palestinian groups in Gaza.