If Israel should apologize for attacking Hamas terrorists in Qatar, then the U.S. should apologize for killing arch-terrorist Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said in a video released on Thursday.
“If that’s the new standard, then the United States must apologize for going after Osama bin Laden while he was in Pakistan being protected by the Pakistanis. Once again, we can’t apply a different standard to Israel than we do to every other nation,” Huckabee remarked in an address at the Friends of Zion Museum, an institution in downtown Jerusalem dedicated to Christian Zionists and their contributions to the Jewish state.
The diplomat rejected claims that Israel attacked the country of Qatar. “It did not,” he stressed. “It did, in fact, send a missile to attack a terrorist who had been partly responsible for the murder of Israeli citizens—but it did not attack the country.
“There was one missile. It was aimed at one person. Unfortunately, there were some people who were near that missile strike that were injured or killed from it. But that was not an attack on the nation of Qatar,” Huckabee said.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee in an interview:
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) December 11, 2025
Israel did not attack Qatar. It launched a missile at a person who was somewhat responsible for the murder of Israelis, but it did not attack the state of Qatar. There was one missile aimed at one person. Unfortunately,… pic.twitter.com/GUCM1KEbD4
Israel carried out an airstrike on Sept. 9 on Hamas’s leadership in Doha, but failed to kill the senior figures of the terrorist organization.
Five lower-ranking members died, along with family members, including Humam al-Hayya, the son of Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’s chief negotiator in the hostage talks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated at the time that the decision to strike was made without American input. “Israel’s decision to act against the Hamas terrorist leadership in Qatar was a wholly independent decision,” he said.
He said that the attack conveyed the important message that Israel would not hesitate to strike terrorists no matter where they may be.
If “terrorists think they enjoy immunity, they’ll do it again and again and again. And if you deny them that immunity, they’ll think twice,” Netanyahu said.
