Israel’s Doha strike has destroyed American credibility
It is unclear whether, and how much, the US knew about Israel’s airstrike against Hamas negotiators in the Qatari capital of Doha. But there can no longer be any doubt that Israel has assumed carte blanche.
After decades of enjoying impunity for its violations of international law and norms, it no longer even hesitates to do whatever it wants. Aside from the individual victims, the main casualty of Israel’s escalation is US credibility.
Israel – the beneficiary of billions of dollars worth of annual US aid – openly celebrated the strike. Even Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s archrival, opposition leader Yair Lapid, publicly congratulated the “Air Force, IDF, Shin Bet, and all security forces on an exceptional operation to thwart our enemies”.
While Israel roams freely around the region, bombing other countries at will, America’s own influence has waned. Not since the invasion of Iraq has its credibility been so low. The most troubling element of the Doha strike…
