Earlier this year, CNN reported that the U.S. has reached an agreement for CENTCOM (the Pentagon’s Middle Eastern command) to continue using the Al Udeid airbase outside of Doha for the next ten years. Yigal Carmon documents Qatar’s support of Hamas and several other terrorist groups and explains why Washington should start using its leverage on this small authoritarian country, instead of letting it use the airbase as a source of leverage over the U.S.

The Qataris, realizing that their very existence is threatened if the U.S. relocates its CENTCOM operations to the UAE or Saudi Arabia, hastened to nail down the U.S. for another decade in Qatar. This happened despite Qatar’s support of both Sunni and Shiite terrorist organizations worldwide, and despite its open alliance with Iran, including joint Qatari naval training with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. And the fact that it is standing with the Houthis, with whom the U.S. is currently engaged in military conflict to ensure free passage of shipping in the Red Sea.

Without CENTCOM in Qatar, the ruling family will be unable to continue ruling Qatar. Yet it seems like the U.S. did not demand that Qatar reverse its policies of sponsoring terrorism—let alone demand the release of American hostages held by its proxy Hamas in Gaza, after it killed 32 U.S. nationals on October 7.

Yet, argues Carmon, Israel need not be beholden to America’s mistakes:

The surest and fastest way to bring about the release of American and Israeli hostages held in Gaza is by massively pressuring Qatar, the way Israel is acting against Iran, rather than appealing to it. Once Qatar realizes that its own existence is at stake, it will exert maximum pressure on Hamas to release the hostages.

For Hamas, Qatar is its lifeline. It is the hope, the future, and the continuation of the fight to eradicate Israel and to kill all the Jews, as set out in its charter. Once Hamas realizes that Qatar can no longer assist it, it will have no choice but to comply with Qatar’s demands. Hamas has no friends or allies in the Arab and Muslim world, with the exception of Iran and its proxies.

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.”