by Giovanni Giacalone
It is widely known how the Biden administration was quite problematic for Israel with its pressure to limit the IDF’s actions against Hamas, the entrance into Rafah, cutting the weapon shipment and imposing continuous “humanitarian aid” into Gaza that went straight into Hamas’ pockets.
However, sometimes things can only get worse and, even though many saw Trump as a great friend of Israel, with a reason, since during the electoral campaign he presented himself as such, once in office, Trump did the exact opposite and turned against Israel to pursue his own agenda.
Trump’s priorities are to present himself as “the peacemaker” and, above all, to cut as many business deals as possible with the three main energy-rich Arab nations in the area: Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
Trump’s business in the Gulf region
As CNN reported on May 12, these three countries “are racing to turn their influence over Donald Trump into tangible gains. They have built personal ties with the president and collectively pledged trillions in US investments while casting themselves as key intermediaries in conflicts Trump wants to resolve, from Gaza to Ukraine and Iran.”
Trump has no interest in fighting terrorism and terror-supporting states because he wants to “cut deals” with whoever can bring in billions, no matter if it’s Qatar (which generously gifted him a presidential plane), Iran (with its investment proposal to the US in the nuclear sector), Saudi Arabia and whoever else.
After all, it’s important to keep well in mind how Trump’s sons continue to expand the family business in the Gulf, showing little regard for potential conflicts of interest, as recently reported by the French newspaper Le Monde.
On February 10, 2025, the German news site Deutsche Welle exposed some of the ongoing Trump family business in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, and Oman, emphasizing how the situation led to criticisms regarding multiple conflicts of interest arising for Trump when dealing with regional issues.
DW also highlighted that, although Donald Trump resigned from all management roles in his businesses, his family has remained prominent in his political activities and campaigns despite their continuing roles in the business. This is indeed a very consistent problem.
Days before his Middle East trip, rumors started circulating in the media about Trump renaming the Persian Gulf as “Gulf of Arabia” and even potentially recognizing a Palestinian state, possibly to prepare the ground and please his Middle Eastern partners, and especially Qatar.
Let’s keep well in mind that Qatar is Hamas’ biggest financial and political supporter; its political leaders have been residing in Doha for years and the Palestinian terrorist organization has been a major tool for Qatar’s foreign policy in the region.
For some reason, Doha has been playing the role of “mediator” since the October 7th massacre while in reality it has been acting as Hamas’ diplomatic arm. The objective? Making sure that Hamas survives the Gaza war and possibly maintains some form of control or presence in the post-war phase.
Isn’t it interesting how, as soon as the Trump administration took office, US special envoy Steven Witkoff rushed to Israel and imposed a ceasefire and a negotiation with Hamas?
Moreover, the recent direct talks between the Trump administration and Hamas broke a decades-old policy by Washington against negotiating with terrorist organizations. Let’s not forget Adam Boehler’s meeting with the terrorist leadership in March, obviously supported by Trump:
“We’re not doing anything in terms of Hamas. We’re not giving cash,” he continued. “You have to negotiate. There’s a difference between negotiating and paying. We want to get these people out.”
However, it is actually the contrary. You are not supposed to negotiate with a terrorist entity and terrorism cannot be measured in terms of cash, as if it were a real estate business or something alike.
Trump seems unable or unwilling to distinguish between agreement and business deals with legitimate partners and negotiating with a terrorist entity, and that is a very significant problem for the war on terror and for US international credibility.
As a matter of fact, negotiations incentivize terrorists to repeat the atrocities committed, raising the stakes, and in full awareness that the strategy is functional to their objectives and their cause. Moreover, negotiating allows the terrorist organization to acquire political legitimacy, and this is exactly what is happening to Hamas and its state-supporters thanks to the Trump policy.
Steven Witkoff’s role as special envoy
On May 12, the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom revealed that US special envoy, Steven Witkoff, met directly with the Hamas leadership in Doha, including Khalil al-Haya. The objectives on behalf of Hamas and Qatar are to avoid the IDF expansion of ground operations in Gaza and reach a ceasefire, and the path seems to be heading in that direction. According to various sources, Steven Witkoff stated that the Trump administration sees the continuation of the war as a waste of time, that “the US wants to return the hostages, but Israel is not ready to end the war” and that “Israel is prolonging the war, even though we do not see where further progress can be made”.
Isn’t it interesting how the positions held by Hamas, Qatar and Witkoff once again align? Surprise? Not really, if we go back a couple of months, to March, and recall how Witkoff described Hamas during a controversial interview with Tucker Carlson (a “leading platform” for Jew-hatred, according to Amichai Chikli, the Israeli Minister for Diaspora Affairs):
“What we heard in the beginning of this conflict is Hamas is ideological, that they’re prepared to die for a whole variety of reasons. I personally — and I talk to the president about this… I said to him, ‘I don’t think that they are as ideologically locked in. They’re not ideologically intractable. I never believed that…They strap the suicide vest onto young kids who don’t know what they’re doing… They tell them a story…Once you understand that [Hamas] wanted to live, then you were able to talk to them in a more effective way”.
According to Witkoff, it is important to be “dispassionate”, without being influenced by the videos showing the horrifying actions perpetrated by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Why? Because “it’s important to understand Hamas’ motivations”. Because: “You have to know what Hamas wants… and then you’ve got to figure out what you can give them that allows them to walk out because that’s what’s needed here”, he said.
It seems like Witkoff is climbing on mirrors to be comprehensive towards Hamas and its Gulf States supporters and Doha has become the US special envoy’s second home lately.
After all, Witkoff does have an interesting track record when it comes to business with that part of the globe, as reported by the New York Times in an article entitled “Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East Envoy, Has Ties to Oil-Rich Nations”:
“The year was 2018 and Mr. Witkoff’s co-investor in a Manhattan hotel project had been indicted by the Justice Department on fraud charges. A plan to convert the hotel into luxury condominiums was also on hold. But there was a two-part rescue of sorts from the kind of real estate angels that New York property investors have increasingly turned to. First, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund expanded its stake in the troubled hotel, Park Lane, which sits at the southern edge of Central Park. Then, in an even more crucial move, the Qatar Investment Authority last year dispatched $623 million as a leveraged buyout of Mr. Witkoff and his partners. The transactions — involving two oil-rich sovereign wealth funds from the Middle East — are a hint of the enormous flow of dollars pouring into U.S. real estate firms from entities associated with countries like Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.”
With piercing foresight, the NYT had highlighted that such a situation could have generated complications as Witkoff took his new job at the White House and negotiated with leaders of nations that are past, and potentially future, lenders to or buyers of his family real estate projects.
What’s next?
In the upcoming Middle East visit, Trump needs to present himself as a great friend of the Arab world because he desperately needs to cut business deals with the three main energy-rich Arab nations in the area: Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
He will present himself as the “dealmaker”, as the “peacemaker” and all at the expense of Israel. Furthermore, we cannot rule out that, after nearly 600 days in Hamas captivity, Edan Alexander will be taken to Doha and used as a trophy to parade to the Americans, and the Qataris being able to prove to Trump that they can deliver results.
Among all this mess, what is Netanyahu doing? Mostly keeping one foot to the right and one foot to the left, announcing devastating “large-scale invasions of Gaza” that never actually happen while being kept in the dark of direct negotiations held by Hamas with the Trump administration and their terror-supporting allies in Doha.
Netanyahu has been threatening Armageddon in Gaza and the eradication of Hamas for months but, every time the X hour is about to come, something happens and no operation is launched. Something rather strange, considering that the IDF has full capabilities to do what needs to be done. It’s obvious that the longer the current situation in Gaza is dragged on and the worse it is for Israel, due to the economic and diplomatic repercussions.
The margins for Netanyahu’s acrobatics are ever smaller and the time for a drastic decision is approaching. Israel can now make two choices: either end the war with a permanent ceasefire allowing Hamas to somehow remain in Gaza, or launch a full-scale invasion and destroy what remains of Hamas. Indeed, the first option would be a victory for Hamas and international terrorism; the second option may cause a further rift with Washington, but Trump cannot be allowed to pursue his own interests at the expense of Israel’s safety and security.