Netanyahu to Qatar: If You Won’t Get Rid of Terrorists, We Will

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Qatar that if it did not stop offering safe haven to Hamas, or hold them accountable, then Israel reserved the right to hit the terrorists them as legitimate military targets.

His remarks came a day after Israel launched airstrikes against Hamas terrorists in Doha, the Qatari capital, where the billionaire leaders of Hamas have been enjoying a life of luxurious exile for the past several years.

Netanyahu stopped short of endorsing the full “Bush doctrine,” the post-9/11 policy that regarded states that harbor or support terrorists as if they themselves are enemies. But he cited the 9/11 attacks as a justification for pursuing terrorists, even in allied countries — as the U.S. pursued Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

In a statement, Netanyahu said (transcript via the Government Press Office):

Tomorrow is September 11th. We remember September 11th. On that day, Islamist terrorists committed the worst savagery on American soil since the founding of the United States.

We also have a September 11th. We remember October 7th. On that day, Islamist terrorists committed the worst savagery against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.

What did America do in the wake of September 11th? It promised to hunt down the terrorists who committed this heinous crime, wherever they may be. And it also passed a resolution in the Security Council of the UN, two weeks later, that said that governments cannot give harbor to terrorists.

Well, yesterday, we acted along those lines. We went after the terrorist masterminds who committed the October 7th massacre. And we did so in Qatar which gives safe haven, it harbors terrorists, it finances Hamas, it gives its terrorist chieftains sumptuous villas, it gives them everything.

So we did exactly what America did when it went after the Al Qaida terrorists in Afghanistan and after they went and killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

Now, the various countries of the world condemn Israel. They should be ashamed of themselves. What did they do after America took out Osama bin Laden? Did they say, “Oh, what a terrible thing was done to Afghanistan or to Pakistan?” No, they applauded. They should applaud Israel for standing up to the same principles and carrying them out.

And I say to Qatar and all nations who harbor terrorists, you either expel them or you bring them to justice. Because if you don’t, we will.

The results of Israel’s attack are still unknown; there are some doubts about whether Israel actually eliminated Hamas leaders.

Still, the attack had an impact, letting Hamas know that it was no longer safe in Qatar — and that Qatar could not longer indulge extemists with impunity.