The Gulf nation of Qatar on Tuesday became just the second Muslim-majority country to be admitted into a program that allows its citizens to travel to the United States without first obtaining a U.S. visa.

The departments of State and Homeland Security jointly announced that Qatar had met stringent eligibility requirements to join the visa waiver program. Those requirements include a low visa refusal rate, a low rate of visa overstays and a demand of reciprocal treatment of American travelers, who are already allowed to visit Qatar without a visa for up to 30 days.

“Qatar has been an exceptional partner for the United States, and our strategic relationship has only grown stronger over the past few years,” the departments said in a statement. “This is further evidence of our strategic partnership and our shared commitment to security and stability.”

Qatar, which has played a key role in trying to negotiate a cease-fire deal in Gaza and was an instrumental U.S. partner before and during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan, is the 42nd country to be admitted to the program.

The decision is truly mind-boggling as Qatar is as close to a terror group as a legitimate state can be. It harbors and finances mass-murderer Hamas leaders and other terrorists, including the Muslim Brotherhood; its propaganda wing Al Jazeera, the leading anti-West propaganda machine in the world, is nothing more than a terror front, spreading virulent antisemitism and lies, and even aiding terror causes, prompting Israel to shut down its operations in the country. Qatar is also one of the leading sponsors of the anti-Israel drivel in US universities – a catalyst of the anti-Israel and antisemitic protests following October 7.

A think tank even published a report that Qatar’s funding led directly the October 7 assault. In May, Prof. Judea Pearl, a Chancellor’s Professor of Computer Science and Statistics at UCLA, [and the father of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, H’yd] said that the anti-Israel protests on campus are allowed to continue due to the large amount of money the university receives from Qatar.

Qatar’s Emir Hamad Al Thani just called Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza “a genocide” in his speech on Tuesday to the UN General Assembly. He also slammed Israel for its actions against Hezbollah, which included the elimination of Ibrahim Akil, who had a US-imposed $7 million bounty on his head for his involvement in the murder of 63 people in the bombing of the US Embassy in Beirut in 1983 as well as the abduction of US and German hostages.

Most countries whose citizens can visit the U.S. without a visa are longstanding allies in Europe and Asia. The only other Muslim-majority country in the program is the tiny Southeast Asian nation of Brunei.

Although Qatar’s population is just over 3 million people, only a small percentage of those — about 320,000 — are actually Qataris who would be eligible for the program if they hold valid passports. The vast majority of people who live in Qatar are foreign workers and other expatriates who do not hold Qatari passports.

The program allows citizens of qualifying nations to enter the U.S. for business or tourism without a visa for up to 90 days, although they must still obtain approval through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, or ESTA, which is done online and doesn’t require an in-person interview as visa applications do.

After Oct. 1, U.S. citizens will be allowed to stay in Qatar without a visa for 90 days.

Israel was the last country admitted to the program in 2023.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem & AP)