By Daled Amos
European leaders are still tripping over each other to muster the most indignation at Israel. The heads of France, Canada, Britain, Australia, and Belgium have loudly proclaimed their support for rewarding Hamas with a Palestinian state. But their latest fury is reserved for Israel's strike against the Hamas leadership in Doha, the capital of Qatar, a leading funder of Islamist terrorism.
This public outrage demonstrates a profound ignorance and disregard for their own obligations under international law.
During a press conference the day before Israel's strike against Hamas in Doha, the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, declared:Spain, as you know, doesn’t have nuclear bombs, nor aircraft carriers, nor large oil reserves. We alone can’t stop the Israeli offensive. But that doesn’t mean we won’t stop trying...
Spanish politicians were quick to mock Sanchez. The leader of the far-right Vox party, Santiago Abascal, said Sanchez “would like to have nuclear weapons…but not to defend Spain. To defend Hamas.” A spokesman for the center-right Popular Party asked, “A nuclear bomb on Tel Aviv? Is that what he intends to do?”
Netanyahu countered that Sanchez was the one with genocidal tendencies:
While Sanchez's comments preceded the strike, other leaders were quick to condemn the subsequent action. Canadian PM Mark Carney called the attack “an intolerable expansion of violence and an affront to Qatar’s sovereignty.” The EU issued a statement that the attack “breaches international law.” The EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, suspended bilateral support to Israel “without affecting our work with Israeli civil society or Yad Vashem.” As the Wall Street Journal put it, "In other words, commemorate the Holocaust, but don’t dare touch the leaders who tried to carry out another one."
In their eagerness to condemn Israel, these leaders made a big show of supporting a "rules-based international order." But what international law do they claim to support? The rules they are obligated to follow directly contradict their outrage.
On September 28, 2001, just two weeks after 9/11, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1373 (2001). Adopted under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, it is legally binding on all UN members. This resolution obligates states to:
Prevent and Suppress Financing: All member states must prevent and suppress the financing of terrorism, criminalize such activities, and freeze the assets of terrorists.
Deny Safe Haven: States must deny safe haven and support to terrorists, and prevent their movement across borders.
Improve Cooperation: Governments must cooperate on investigations, extraditions, and mutual legal assistance.
Strengthen Domestic Laws: States must strengthen border controls, asylum/refugee screening, and ensure terrorism is prosecutable under national laws.
The bottom line is that Resolution 1373 obligates all UN member states to take concrete steps to deny terrorists financial support, safe havens, and freedom of movement. By giving a pass to a country that hosts and funds the leaders of a designated terrorist organization, these European nations are themselves in breach of international law.
This double standard is also apparent in the United States, even among those who support Israel. In July of last year, Congress recommended in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 that the Secretary of Defense submit a report on the operational status of the U.S. Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, “taking into account [Qatar's] relationship with Hamas and other terrorist organizations.” The committee noted that:
[Qatar] continues to host Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization responsible for the deaths of more than 33 Americans and the kidnapping of 12 Americans on October 7, 2023.
Recognition of the problem with Qatar is not a new phenomenon. A 2009 brief for Admiral Olson on his visit to Qatar noted, "Vast wealth has bolstered political ambitions, leading to Qatari foreign policy initiatives that are often at odds with U.S. objectives, notably Qatar's relationships with Hamas and Syria."
Qatari money and political influence have clearly warped the understanding of international law among many world leaders. In their rush to publicly condemn Israel, these European politicians have not only demonstrated a profound ignorance of their own binding obligations under UN Resolution 1373, but have also shown a troubling willingness to grant terrorists safe haven. When leaders boast of upholding a "rules-based international order" while simultaneously rewarding the very entities that seek to destroy it, their words ring hollow. The true measure of a nation's commitment to international law isn't in its public statements of indignation, but in its willingness to enforce the actual laws against all who break them, without exception.
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