“Saudi Arabia thought that to get a defense pact with the United States, it would require normalizing relations with Israel. Qatar managed to get a partial defense pact with the United States by getting attacked by Israel,” a former US official told Axios. While Trump’s executive order is seen as a response to the Israeli attack on Qatar, it could also be an effort to shore up the alliance with Doha ahead of another potential war with Iran. Iran had given the US notice about the attack, and there were no casualties among US or Qatari personnel. But in the event of another war, Iran’s attacks could be more significant and likely come without warning.