Azra Hoosen | ah@radioislam.co.za
23 May 2025 | 13:00 CAT
2 min read

Geopolitical currents appear to be shifting across the region from Europe’s evolving stance on Israel’s war in Gaza, to the intricate role Qatar plays in mediation, and the increasingly delicate nuclear negotiations with Iran.

Dr James M. Dorsey, an award-winning journalist, provided an in-depth analysis on Radio Islam’s Middle East Report. Dr Dorsey noted a significant hardening in European attitudes towards Israel, particularly regarding the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

“We have seen some of the harshest language used by Israel’s European allies since the Gaza war began. Those harsh words have had some effect, but that does not mean that the European pressure will stop,” he said.

He pointed out that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has now openly shifted the nature of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by adding what he termed a new “war goal”: implementing former U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza resettlement plan, effectively seeking the removal of Palestinians from Gaza. “This is now the first time that it has become official Israeli policy and that is a policy that has already been condemned virtually unanimously by the international community,” said Dorsey.

While Trump has reportedly instructed Netanyahu to end the war, the Israeli prime minister appears defiant. “Netanyahu’s defiance suggests he knows that Trump is not at the point where he will put his money where his mouth is. Trump wants the war to end. But Trump, as well as significant segments of the international community, including the Arab world and some parts of the Muslim world, want to see Hamas defeated. So they do not want to stymie that effort… but on the other hand, they want this carnage to stop. At this point, those are obviously incompatible goals,” he said.

Turning attention to Qatar, Dr Dorsey highlighted the contradictions in the U.S.-Qatar relationship. While Trump recently made a historic visit to the Gulf state, securing massive deals valued at $1.2 trillion, Israel and its allies continue a longstanding campaign to undermine Qatar’s reputation. “Israel’s relationship with Qatar has for at least a decade been very complex. At the moment, you have a resolution in the Israeli parliament which would outlaw Qatar as a mediator in the Gaza war,” he added.

Despite the criticism, Qatar remains a crucial player. “Qatar has a relationship with Hamas… partly for its own reasons, but also because the United States and Israel wanted a back channel to the group. In addition, Netanyahu engineered for Qatar to pay the salaries of the Hamas-controlled government in Gaza. That is not something that he wants to live up to today. And so what you have is a situation in which Qatar is being demonised… and yet at the same time, it is crucial to the efforts to end the Gaza war,” explained Dorsey.

On the Iran front, the fifth round of nuclear negotiations with the Trump administration may prove pivotal. “We are now approaching the red lines in the negotiations. Iran has insisted that it has a right to enrich to the levels that are authorised by the Non-Proliferation Treaty as well as the International Atomic Energy Agency, whereas the Trump administration appears to be taking the position that Iran should have no enrichment and no enriched uranium on its soil,” said Dorsey.

According to Dr Dorsey, the challenge in these negotiations will be to “find a formula that allows both sides to save face.”

LISTEN to the full interview with Muallimah Shaakira Hunter and Dr. James M. Dorsey, here.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. James M. Dorsey is an award-winning journalist, scholar, and Senior Fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute. He is the author of ‘The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer’.