Before it can address long-term concerns, Jerusalem must work through some more immediate problems. One of those is Qatar, which the Biden administration gave the coveted status of a “major non-NATO ally” in January of 2022, despite the fact that it maintains cordial relations with Iran and the Taliban. The U.S. does have an important air-force base in the country, and Israel has cooperated with Qatar in getting aid money into the Gaza Strip. Yet Doha funds Hamas generously, provides its seniormost leadership with a safe haven, and supports it through its state-run media corporations (including Al Jazeera). So long as Washington continues to consider the peninsular emirate a partner, it is difficult to imagine Israel retaliating against it.

The translators at the Middle East Media Research Institute detail the Qatar-Hamas relationship, providing videos, links to other articles, and additional information:

[T]he heads of the Hamas terror organization live in Doha and operate there without hindrance. In fact, on October 7, 2023, the day of the deadly Hamas attack in southern Israel, the Hamas leadership held a meeting in Doha. Videos from this meeting circulated on social media on the morning of the attack show Hamas leaders watching footage of it on Al Jazeera and holding a “prayer of gratitude.” Among the leaders seen in the video are the head of Hamas’s political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh; Haniyeh’s media advisor Taher al-Nounou; Haniyeh’s deputy and Hamas’s leader in the West Bank Saleh al-Arouri; Hamas’s leader abroad, Khaled Mashal, and Khalil al-Haya, Hamas’s chief of relations with the Arab and Islamic world and the movement’s deputy leader in Gaza.

Qatar’s Al Jazeera channel serves as a mouthpiece for Hamas’s messaging. For example, on the day of Hamas’s recent widescale attack, it aired the statement in which Hamas’s military chief Muhammad Deif declared the start of Operation al-Aqsa Flood (Hamas’s name for the attack) and called on Palestinians to kill Israelis. It also aired a statement by Ismail Haniyeh, who likewise urged the Palestinians in the West Bank, as well as Israeli Arabs and all Palestinians abroad, to join the fray.

On Tuesday, representatives of Hamas met with their counterparts from Fatah—the faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) once led by Yasir Arafat that now governs parts of the West Bank—in Beijing to discuss possible reconciliation. While it is unlikely that these talks will yield any more progress than the many previous rounds, they constitute a significant step in China’s increasing attempts to involve itself in the Middle East on the side of Israel’s enemies.

By contrast, writes Tuvia Gering, Taiwan has been quick and consistent in its condemnations of Hamas and Iran and its expressions of sympathy with Israel:

Support from Taipei goes beyond words. Taiwan’s appointee in Tel Aviv and de-facto ambassador, Abby Lee, has been busy aiding hostage families, adopting the most affected kibbutzim in southern Israel, and volunteering with farmers. Taiwan recently pledged more than half a million dollars to Israel for critical initiatives, including medical and communications supplies for local municipalities. This follows earlier aid from Taiwan to an organization helping Israeli soldiers and families immediately after the October 7 attack.

The reasons why are not hard to fathom:

In many ways, Taiwan sees a reflection of itself in Israel—two vibrant democracies facing threats from hostile neighbors. Both nations wield substantial economic and technological prowess, and both heavily depend on U.S. military exports and diplomacy. Taipei also sees Israel as a “role model” for what Taiwan should aspire to be, citing its unwavering determination and capabilities to defend itself.

On a deeper level, Taiwanese leaders seem to view Israel’s war with Hamas and Iran as an extension of a greater struggle between democracy and autocracy.

Gering urges Israel to reciprocate these expressions of friendship and to take into account that “China has been going above and beyond to demonize the Jewish state in international forums.” Above all, he writes, Jerusalem should “take a firmer stance against China’s support for Hamas and Iran-backed terrorism, exposing the hypocrisy and repression that underpin its vision for a new global order.”