Steven Witkoff recently made a great case for why he should be fired as President Donald Trump's special envoy for the Middle East. In a recent interview with political commentator Tucker Carlson, he praised Qatar's leaders and said that Hamas can be involved in Gaza's future.
Qatar is a major sponsor of Islamist terrorist groups, including Hamas. In fact, over the last decade, the small, gas-rich Arab emirate has subsidized Hamas's regime in Gaza to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. The Qatari leadership shares the same Islamist ideology as Hamas and other offshoots of the Muslim Brotherhood. And they've used their vast wealth to promote this ideology all over the world – including the US.
Indeed, Qatar has spent billions of dollars promoting its Islamist agenda at colleges and universities all over America, to the extent that it is now the largest foreign donor to American universities. This money has translated into antisemitism and anti-Americanism on university campuses throughout the country, often accompanied by unlawful, violent demonstrations by far-left, anti-American mobs out to destroy Israel, the US and Western civilization as we know it.
At the same time, Qatar pretends to be an ally of the US. The country has played a key role in ceasefire and hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas, not to mention the fact that it now hosts America's largest military base in the region. But if Trump is serious about creating a new order in the Middle East and stamping out antisemitism and anti-Americanism at home, he ought to consider closing that base. In fact, the administration would be well-advised to treat Qatar just as it treats Iran. Thus, the US should cut all ties to the emirate and impose harsh sanctions on it.
As long as Qatar continues to promote and fund Islamist terrorism, it cannot be part of the new Middle East that Trump wants to create. It certainly cannot be part of Gaza's future, nor can its beneficiary, Hamas. Witkoff has asserted that Hamas can be part of Gaza's future politics so long as it disarms. This suggestion is preposterous. Hamas can never be part of Gaza's future in any way, shape or form.
When the Allies defeated Nazi Germany in World War II, they ensured that neither the Nazis nor their genocidal ideology would have any role in the country's future. Hamas is very much the Nazis of the present. Allowing them to play a role in Gaza's future would be as if the Allies allowed the Nazis to play a role in Germany's future after WWII.
By singing the praises of Qatar's dictators and asserting that Hamas can continue to play a role in post-war Gaza, Witkoff undermines the Trump Administration's agenda to create a new order in the Middle East – one that doesn't include purveyors of murderous Islamist ideology like Qatar and Hamas. Therefore, President Trump would be wise to dismiss him.
