Qatar will not recognize Israel or normalize relations with the Jewish state, Qatar’s Foreign Minister announced last week.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said that Doha will not join other Gulf Arab states in normalizing ties with Israel, even after a breakthrough was reached last week towards ending the so-called “GCC Crisis” between Qatar and the other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, including Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
Al-Thani said that Qatar will not recognize Israel unless a Palestinian state is established with Jerusalem as its capital.
“Qatar believes that if Israel is committed to peace, to end the occupation, the two-state solution, and the state of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital, and if there is Arab approval, we accept that,” Al-Thani told Al Jazeera on Thursday.
Nevertheless, Al-Thani vowed that Qatar would not dispute the decision by other GCC states to recognize Israel and establish diplomatic relations.
“The Abraham Accords is a sovereign decision and we do not interfere in sovereign decisions.”