In the Middle East of 2026, there is no longer room for illusions. Israel’s enemies do not operate only through missiles, drones, and terrorist organizations. They also use money, media, political influence, and sophisticated diplomacy.
No two countries illustrate this more clearly than Turkey and Qatar, close allies that have long been associated with political support for the Muslim Brotherhood and hostility toward Israel.
The Turkey of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is no longer the secular state founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Under Erdogan’s leadership, Ankara has become a center of political support for the Hamas terrorist organization.
Over the years, it has hosted senior Hamas officials and repeatedly used inflammatory rhetoric against Israel.
At the same time, Turkey seeks to present itself as a strategic ally of the United States. It continues to benefit from its membership in NATO and from the presence of the United States Air Force at Incirlik Air Base, one of Washington’s most important strategic assets in the region.
Qatar also plays a double game. On one hand, it hosts Al Udeid Air Base, the largest American military base in the Middle East. Thousands of American personnel are stationed there, and the base serves as a major center for United States Central Command operations.
On the other hand, Qatar hosted the leadership of the Hamas terrorist organization in Doha for years.
It has invested enormous resources in building political and media influence, presenting itself as a mediator while acting with duplicity and financing terrorist organizations.
This reality creates a paradox. Both countries host vital American strategic assets while maintaining ties with terrorist organizations, which the United States and Israel regard as security threats.
Washington appears to view this as a calculated balancing policy that allows Turkey and Qatar to maximize their regional influence, even though US President Donald Trump previously declared that Qatar supported terrorist organizations.
The power of both countries is not based solely on military strength or geography. It also rests on economic power and influence over public opinion.
Qatar controls one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, managing assets worth more than half a trillion dollars.
Through this capital, it has acquired stakes and influence in financial institutions, major corporations, real estate, universities, research institutes, sports clubs, and media organizations.
Economic influence gradually becomes political and ideological influence as well.
Al Jazeera is perhaps the most prominent expression of this power. Many people in the West see it as an international news network that broadcasts a supposedly moderate message in English.
Its Arabic language coverage, however, reveals the full extent of its ideology and serves as a tool for advancing the narratives of Qatar and radical Islamist movements.
It is worth asking how Al Jazeera reporters stationed around the world repeatedly managed to be present at the sites of terrorist attacks involving the Taliban, Hamas, and Hezbollah over the years.
Qatar’s influence has long extended beyond the media. It now represents a security threat to the Gulf states, Israel, and the free world.
The modern battlefield
In recent years, public questions have been raised in the United States about the scale of Qatar’s foreign donations to leading universities and their harmful influence on public debate.
Many campuses have seen an increase in aggressive protests against Israel.
Academics and prominent opinion leaders have been invited as honored guests, sometimes alongside Jewish leaders who were dazzled by the recognition and respect bestowed upon them by their Qatari hosts.
The attitudes of Turkey and Qatar toward the Iranian regime are no less scandalous. The regime in Tehran has been accused for decades of violent repression, the execution of tens of thousands of political opponents, and support for terrorist organizations around the world.
Despite disagreements on certain issues, Qatar and Iran share the world’s largest offshore natural gas field and maintain channels of cooperation. Turkey, meanwhile, continues to maintain diplomatic and economic relations with Iran, even during periods of heightened regional tension.
Erdogan’s relationship with Trump also deserves scrutiny. Ankara fully understands the importance of its relationship with Washington and the value of Incirlik Air Base to the United States.
Qatar, for its part, has invested enormous effort over the years in cultivating its relationships with successive American administrations. Media reports have described valuable gifts and extraordinary gestures directed toward American public figures.
Security and ethics officials should examine these matters with complete transparency and in accordance with American legal and security standards.
In democratic countries, scrutiny and transparency are not expressions of hostility. They are signs of institutional strength.
Israel cannot afford to focus only on its borders. It must understand that the real struggle is also taking place in the battle for public opinion.
Money, media, academia, diplomacy, and international influence are now integral parts of the modern battlefield. Faced with a long-term strategy based on soft power, Israel needs a national strategy of its own.
It must combine public diplomacy, research, traditional diplomacy, partnerships with the democratic world, and an uncompromising campaign against terrorism and those who finance it.
The time has come for the West to stop judging countries in the region only by the investments they make or the economic assets they control.
The truly important questions are what values these countries promote, which forces they strengthen, and whether they contribute to regional stability or undermine it. Every country, without exception, must be judged by that standard.
The author is the CEO of Radio 100FM, an honorary consul and deputy dean of the Consular Diplomatic Corps, president of the Israel Radio Communications Association, and a former Army Radio monitor and NBC television correspondent.