Peloni: This article depicts an honest assessment of the outlook of the Qatari leadership. Even after relentless and unprovoked attacks from Iran, there can be no choice between Iran and Israel. Yet, these are the primary interlocutors being employed by the US as so-called peace negotiators acting on behalf of America. By using such third parties, it betrays the reality that the Qatari’s also choose Iran over America.
A Qatari minister called U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee a villain who presents us with a ‘Satanic And Destructive Choice’ Between Our Muslim Neighbor Iran And The Occupying Entity, Israel
By: Yigal Carmon | MEMRI | May 18, 2026
In an angry post on his X account on May 13, 2026, Hamad Al-Kawari, a Qatari Minister of State with rank of Deputy Prime Minister and director of the Qatar National Library, who formerly served as his country’s ambassador to the U.S., the UN, and France, responded to recent remarks by U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who called on the Gulf states to choose between Iran, which attacks them, and Israel, which helps them.
Ambassador Huckabee noted, in a May 12 speech at Tel Aviv University, that Iran attacked the Gulf states during the recent war, whereas Israel provided the UAE with Iron Dome batteries and a professional team to repel these attacks. He therefore urged the Gulf states to recognize that Israel is not their enemy and to prefer it over Iran.[1]
Al-Kuwari rejected Huckabee’s call, describing it as “satanic and destructive” and stating that there is a fundamental difference between “our neighbor, the Muslim Iran,” with which there will be “dialogue based on good neighborliness and mutual respect” after the war, and “the plundering and occupying entity,” Israel.
It should be noted that several Qatari journalists, as well as a member of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUJMS), which is based in Doha and supported by Qatar, sympathized with Al-Kawai’s remarks.[2]
Left: Ambassador Mike Huckabee (alquds.co.uk); right: Minister Hamad Al-Kawari (qnl.qa). Image via MEMRI.org
The following is a translation of Al-Kawari’s X post in response to Huckabee’s remarks.[3]
“We completely reject the satanic choice [mentioned by] Huckabee.
“U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee presented us with a choice between Israel and Iran, as though the region can contain only one of them. This is a reprehensible framing [of the issue], and indeed a carefully crafted plan promoted by people with agendas and adopted by others in good faith and out of shortsightedness.
“Iran indeed attacked us during the recent war, and its aggression is completely unacceptable. Responding to it was a legitimate right anchored in international law and in every political treaty and convention. If someone attacks us, no matter who, we will defend ourselves and respond to the aggression in kind.
“However, there is a fundamental difference [between Iran and Israel] that must not be ignored. Iran is a neighboring Muslim country with an ancient civilization rooted in history, and it shares [our] Islamic cultural heritage. We disagree with it and may even fight it, but we cannot change geography and history. Once the aggression subsides, dialogue based on good neighborliness and mutual respect will remain the ideal way to stabilize the region, achieve cooperation, and safeguard everyone’s interests.
“In Israel’s case, the situation is fundamentally different, because it is a plundering, occupying entity that believes its survival depends on expelling the Palestinian people from their land and expanding the settlements by swallowing up the Arab lands in the West Bank and Gaza. It continues to pursue an expansionist plan, which Huckabee himself revealed when he spoke openly about ‘Greater Israel.’[4]
“So what ‘choice’ is Huckabee presenting us with? As I condemn our Muslim neighbor [Iran] for its aggression, which violated a cherished Islamic value, namely the value of good neighborliness, I also accuse it of giving this villain [Huckabee] a chance to make this revolting proposal. The choice Huckabee mentioned is a satanic and destructive one, and we completely reject it out of awareness of this [expansion] plan, of its goals, and of the goals and objectives of the enemy.”
Al-Kawari’s X post
Sources
[1] Youtube.com/shorts/aZ4KyG9ksN8, May 13, 2026.
[2] X.com/A_AzizAlkhater, x.com/fakhrooj, May 13, 2026; x.com/drassagheer, May 14, 2026.
[3] X.com/alkawari4unesco, May 13, 2026.
[4] This refers to a controversial remark made by Huckabee on Tucker Carlson’s podcast in February 2026, in which he expressed support for the Jewish people’s ancestral right to broad territories extending from the Nile to the Euphrates (See open.spotify.com/episode/5F3vQDUko67GsVBoUWiPhE).
Of course. As fellow Muslims, albeit divided by sect, jihad for both sects is their raison d’etre. It gives meaning to their lives. Islam is the correct religion and all others are incorrect and must be demolished, in particular the religion of the Jews whom the Americans incorrectly support.