The Israeli strike on Qatar is, in John Kiriakou’s account of the period, the moment Israeli conduct stopped being a diplomatic irritant for Washington and became a direct problem. “Benjamin Netanyahu went too far when he bombed Qatar. Too far.”[1]
Why Qatar is different
Kiriakou’s objection is structural rather than moral. The Qataris are not merely an ally: “They are a major non-NATO ally. They have the same status as Bahrain, as Japan, as South Korea, as Australia, and we are compelled to protect them.”[1] Beyond the treaty tier there is the physical stake — “Qatar is the home of the world’s largest air force base and it belongs to us.”[2]
The conversation Kiriakou imagines
He reconstructs the call between the Amir and Donald Trump as an accounting of favours: “What’s wrong with you? We’re friends. We’re allies. We gave you this gigantic air base. We have great relations. We’re friends. We just gave you a Boeing 747 for your own use — and you allow the Israelis to bomb us.”[2]
The warning that was not missing
Trump went public to say the Israelis had not given him enough time to warn the Qataris, which Kiriakou says was “probably not true.” Benjamin Netanyahu then stated that he had given Trump two hours’ notice before the strike, leaving Trump embarrassed and, on Kiriakou’s reading, aware “that this could ruin everything.”[3]
The conclusion Kiriakou draws is the one he says Trump finally reached: “Israel acts in the national interests of Israel, and the US must act in the national interests of the United States.”[3][4]