Is Israel Avoiding an Attack on Türkiye Out of Fear of NATO?

Qatar—home to one of America’s largest military bases—has now come under attack from U.S.-backed Israel. This incident makes it clear that security assumptions across the region will need to be completely reassessed. Hosting U.S. bases comes with a formal security cooperation agreement, meaning that an attack on Qatar should, in theory, be treated as an attack on the United States itself. Under that agreement, Washington is obligated to participate in Qatar’s defense.

Yet in this latest strike, just as in previous incidents, the American bases did nothing to protect Qatar. On the contrary, it is now painfully clear they have become a source of threat themselves. When Qatar was previously targeted by other Gulf states, the United States failed to show the solidarity it had promised. It was Türkiye—not bound by a broad cooperation pact—who stood with Qatar out of principle, keeping its word and acting with sincerity.

This time, the U.S. not only watched as Israel launched its assault but supplied the weapons, intelligence, and logistical support to carry it out. Any assurances afterward that “it won’t happen again” are hollow and insulting. Qatar entrusted its security to the United States and was betrayed—proving once again that whenever Israel is involved, this is how it will be.

Israel’s strategy of regional expansion is now undeniable, and no one even tries to hide it anymore. Senior Israeli officials have openly issued hostile statements about nearly every country in the region. It’s evident that Israel’s expansionist ambitions target not just its open rivals but even the states it pretends to normalize relations with—Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, as well as Iraq, Kuwait, and Syria. Even countries that thought Trump’s “Deal of the Century” shielded them from these plans can no longer feel safe—nor should they.

That even Qatar—a country known for its diplomacy, mediation, and unique contributions to dialogue and peace—has been attacked by Israel shows that no one in the region is truly secure. At this point, forming a new framework for collective defense and solidarity against the Israeli threat has become urgent for every state in the Middle East. Israel has revealed itself as a dangerously aggressive actor, driven by an extreme, religious-ideological zealotry that has nothing to do with reason, diplomacy, international law, or basic humanity. Convinced its actions are divinely sanctioned, it will commit any atrocity or war crime. The West’s branding of Israel as a “democratic, scientific, and secular” state is now exposed as absurd.

If two years of unparalleled atrocities in Gaza didn’t make that point clear enough, the attack on Qatar surely has. Sometimes what looks like a disaster forces clarity: the Qatar strike could become the spark that drives Arab states toward unity and mutual defense.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman underscored this in his speech to the Shura Council:

“We reject and condemn the occupying power Israel’s attacks in the region, the latest being the barbaric assault on the State of Qatar. This attack demands action at the Arab, Islamic, and international levels. To stop the occupying regime and deter its criminal acts, which destabilize the region’s security, international measures must be taken. We will stand with Qatar in every decision it takes and will mobilize all our resources in its defense.”

From here on, the only viable response to Israel is for Muslim countries to unite with renewed determination. Israel’s Zionist policies threaten them all. Every bomb dropped on Gaza also falls, symbolically, on Cairo, Riyadh, Mecca, Medina, Abu Dhabi—and, as the strike on Doha shows, Ankara could be next. Turkish leaders have long warned that bombs on Gaza are felt in Istanbul and Ankara, and Israeli rhetoric has now made that threat explicit. Israeli officials and even Prime Minister Netanyahu have arrogantly suggested that anyone who shelters or supports Hamas could meet the same fate as Doha—an unmistakable reference to Türkiye.

American neoconservative Michael Rubin even published a piece titled “Who’s Next After Qatar? NATO Won’t Protect Turkey from an Israeli Strike,” displaying the same arrogance. For a state globally condemned and prosecuted for war crimes and genocide to call others “terrorists” is the height of Zionist hypocrisy. Israel can run from accountability for only so long.

The UN Security Council, including the United States, issued a rare statement condemning Israel’s attack on Qatar. While some may dismiss it as symbolic, even this small step shows that frustration with Israel’s recklessness is growing—even in America itself. U.S. public opinion is increasingly angry at Israel’s behavior, and Israel’s defenders—like Rubin—are only deepening that resentment.