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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Gulf states unite to respond to Israel’s attack on Qatar, but find
few options
By Mostafa Salem, CNN
Updated:
5:09 AM EDT, Sun September 14, 2025
Source: CNN
For decades, wealthy Gulf Arab states cast themselves as oases of
stability in a region mired in conflict, building gleaming capitals
with fast-growing economies powered by millions of foreign workers
drawn to economic opportunity and a tax-free lifestyle.
But this year, their sense of safety was shattered when two regional
powers conducted a direct strike on a Gulf country for the first time.
First, Iran targeted an American airbase in Qatar in June after the US
struck its nuclear facilities. Then came this week, targeting Hamas’
political leadership in Doha.
Gulf Arab states are rattled as a Gaza war that began thousands of
miles from their borders nearly two years ago inches closer to home.
With few viable military options to retaliate, Qatar has vowed a
“collective” regional response to Israel’s strikes. That response
is currently “under consultation and discussion” with other
partners, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al
Thani told CNN’s Becky Anderson on Wednesday. A decision is expected
at an Arab and Islamic summit in Doha this weekend.
Perhaps the most visible and immediate reaction came from the Gulf
state that has the closest ties to Israel: the United Arab Emirates.
UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan arrived in Doha with a large
delegation less than 24 hours after the attack. Qatar was his first
stop on a Gulf tour to coordinate a response to the attack that also
took him to Bahrain and Oman. On Friday, the UAE summoned an Israeli
diplomat to denounce what it called Israel’s “blatant and
cowardly” attack.
Regional analysts told CNN that Gulf Arab states would likely be
weighing options that demonstrate regional unity and deter further
Israeli strikes, but could be constrained by limited viable options.
“We need to take a stand now because if (we) do not, it will be other
Gulf capitals next,” said Bader Al-Saif, an assistant professor of
history at Kuwait University, referring to Gulf nations.
Diplomatic options
Analysts say that one of the options could involve the UAE downgrading
diplomatic relations with Israel or decreasing its involvement in the
Abraham Accords, a normalization agreement between Israel and three
Arab states that became US President Donald Trump’s biggest foreign
policy achievement during his first term.
The UAE had been signaling discontent with Israel even before the
strike on Doha. This week, Lana Nusseibeh, a senior UAE official,
warned that reported Israeli plans to would be a “red line” that
would “betray the very spirit of the Abraham Accords.”
Qatar’s prime minister said that part of Doha’s response would be
in the legal arena, including through international law. On Thursday,
it successfully lobbied for a unanimous statement at the UN Security
Council condemning the Israeli attack.
Hasan Alhasan, senior fellow for Middle East Policy at the
International Institute for Strategic Studies in Bahrain, said Gulf
states haven’t previously significantly participated in proceedings
against Israel at international courts, and that that could change.
“Gulf states so far have not played a key role in supporting these
efforts, politically or financially. Gulf states could collectively
decide to join those cases,” he said.
Another option is for Qatar to withdraw from its role as the go-to
mediator between the US and some of its adversaries, analysts say.
Fraternal security
Gulf states have had significant internal quarrels over the years but
remain bound by mutual defense treaties signed decades ago.
Abdulaziz Sager, chairman of the Saudi-based Gulf Research Center, said
Gulf Arab countries could resort to activating and expanding the
“Peninsula Shield Force” – a 1980s-era military pact intended to
deter attacks on their nations.
“These clauses have so far been theoretical,” Alhasan said, but
“now they could activate them, by creating a unified Gulf command,
integrating air and missile defense system, building a more independent
ingenious capability.”
Most of the seven Gulf states depend on US military hardware and host
American bases, but recent perceived American failures to defend their
territories could prompt the Arab nations to diversify their defense
capabilities or demand stronger US security guarantees.
Sager said the Israeli attack could push the Gulf region to “enter
into a serious and structured dialogue” with the Trump administration
on the terms of their security partnership, and to “move beyond”
just buying arms from the US and “toward clearer defense
guarantees.” These could include accountability when US
“commitments appear absent or ambiguous.”
Still, efforts to find a regional consensus may be limited by competing
domestic interests among Gulf states that remain wary of jeopardizing
their relationship with the US under a Trump administration that has
been Israel’s biggest backer.
“Gulf states now realize that they’re not particularly well
equipped to address the threat posed by Israel, because their national
security is predicated on the defense partnership with the US – which
has an explicit foreign defense policy giving Israel a qualitative
military edge,” Alhasan said.
Economic response
The trillions of dollars in revenue earned annually from the region’s
oil and gas exports are strategically invested in global assets, which
partially leverages the region’s soft power to secure influence in
the world’s key decision-making centers.
Gulf states like Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UAE could utilize
their vast sovereign wealth funds to impose trade limitations on
Israel.
“They could decide to use their funds to boycott companies who have
significant stakes in the Israeli economy,” Alhasan said.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar collectively pledged to invest around
three trillion dollars in the US economy when Trump visited the region
on his first foreign trip abroad during his second term as president.
“Those trillions the Gulf states are pumping into the US in the next
decade are premised on a secure and safe Gulf space that can benefit
from these investments too,” al-Saif said.
“But if we feel insecure, which is happening thanks to an American
ally like Israel, the money can go somewhere else, whether to better
secure the Gulf or earn better returns on their investments.”
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