On May 25, 1981, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) was founded in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. At its third summit the following year, in November 1982, the bloc’s Supreme Council approved the creation of the Peninsula Shield Force – a 5,000-strong mechanized infantry brigade drawn from all six member states. The move came against the backdrop of the Iran-Iraq War.
But the force remained largely symbolic. Even after its 2005 expansion, when its manpower and weaponry were increased and it was rebranded as the Joint Peninsula Shield Forces, it was rarely deployed. The only significant use came in 2011, when GCC troops entered Bahrain to help quell opposition protests during the Arab Spring.
For decades, however, Gulf security has rested less on regional coordination than on American protection, anchored by a dense network of U.S. military bases. Chief among them is Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar – the largest U.S. installation outside the United States, built at a cost of $6 billion by the Qatari government.
Since Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait – repelled the following year by a U.S.-led coalition under Operation Desert Shield – the Gulf states have not faced a comparable external threat.
Now, after Israel’s strike in Qatar – an attempt to assassinate Hamas leaders – the question of Gulf security has returned to the forefront. The attack has raised fears it could set a dangerous precedent, leaving other Gulf states vulnerable to similar strikes without effective deterrence.
Alon Ben-Meir, an expert on Middle East affairs and Arab-Israeli negotiations, told Alhurra that Gulf capitals are increasingly uneasy about Washington’s commitment to their defense. “These states feel abandoned,” he said. “If the U.S. allowed one ally, Israel, to attack another, Qatar, what kind of guarantee do we have that Israel won’t strike another Gulf or Arab country – with U.S. approval, or even coordination?”
Ben-Meir believes the fallout will push Gulf states into serious talks with Washington – conversations less about trade or investment, and more about hard security. “They are demanding assurances,” he added, “that U.S. commitments to their protection will not be compromised – especially not by another U.S. ally – and that Washington maintains full control over this.”
Qatar, more than any other Gulf state, has built its foreign policy and security posture on the assumption of U.S. protection. In a study titled Qatar and the Pursuit of a Regional Role, researcher Mohamed Abbas Naji writes that Doha’s policies were shaped by the constraints of its regional environment. Qatar, he notes, “strives to break free of Saudi Arabia’s orbit, despite knowing it lacks the resources to compete with the Kingdom, the largest power in the GCC.”
To secure independence, Qatar has relied on several mechanisms – chief among them, cultivating strong ties with the United States, the GCC’s key strategic partner, by hosting the Al Udeid Air Base. Another tool, Naji argues, has been a policy of “rapprochement with Israel, Washington’s top ally in the region.”
Yet even those strategies did not shield Doha. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the strike on Qatar, framing it as a warning and vowing to repeat it unless Hamas leaders are expelled.
Ben-Meir argues that Israel’s strike in Qatar does not mark a turning point but rather a continuation of a long-standing strategy. “Israel has always pursued this approach,” he told Alhurra. “It has made clear it will hunt down its enemies wherever they are – undeterred by international pressure or threats.”
From Israel’s perspective, he added, such actors pose an existential threat. “Israel gives itself license to act almost without restraint to neutralize any danger to its national security. What we saw in Qatar will not end here. Israel will continue targeting its enemies. We saw it in Iran, in Norway, in Lebanon, and recently in Yemen, where nearly the entire government was wiped out. They act with near impunity.”
Ben-Meir also believes that Israel’s strike on Qatar has effectively closed the door on Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords anytime soon. The attack, he says, has also dealt a heavy blow to any prospects of reviving negotiations toward a new ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
He delivers a sharp critique of Israel’s broader foreign policy, arguing that it “sees itself as the center of gravity, without regard for the interests or concerns of others.” Ben-Meir also warns that President Trump is making a grave mistake by indulging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the sake of his political base. “I think the president’s advisers must carefully reconsider how to move forward if they want to preserve U.S. credibility—especially in the Gulf,” he said.
Ben-Meir also believes Saudi Arabia’s entry into the Abraham Accords is now highly unlikely after Israel’s strike on Qatar. He adds that the attack will significantly damage any hopes for future negotiations toward a new ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
He criticizes Israel’s general conduct in foreign policy, saying it “sees itself as the center of gravity, without regard for the interests or concerns of others.” He further warns that President Trump is making a grave mistake by indulging Netanyahu merely to satisfy his political base: “I think the president’s advisers must carefully reconsider how to move forward if they want to preserve U.S. credibility – especially in the Gulf.”
Rami Al Amine
A Lebanese writer and journalist living in the United States. He holds a master’s degree in Islamic-Christian Relations from the Faculty of Religious Sciences at Saint Joseph University in Beirut. He is the author of the poetry collection “I Am a Great Poet” (Dar Al-Nahda Al-Arabiya, 2007); the political pamphlet “Ya Ali, We Are No Longer the People of the South” (Lebanese Plans, 2008); a book on social media titled “The Facebookers” (Dar Al-Jadeed, 2012); and “The Pakistanis: A Statue’s Biography” (Dar Al-Nahda Al-Arabiya, 2024).
