dr. schanzer i presume would argue hamas is hamas and we should have nothing to do with them and our allies shouldn't eerts. what is the flex halliburton approach get us and dr dr. schanzer, if -- if qatar acted to move all of these terrorist groups out of qatar, out of doha all together, where do they go and to mr. golden berg's point, is there some -- is there some benefit to having them there instead of in the arms of isisors in tehran? mr. goldenberg, can you help us out. >> thank you. ranking member deutsch, this is precisely the point. it's complicated. but what i would say is, or maybe i'll start with an example of hamas and quote an israeli former head of research, the former head of research for israel's military intelligence who has been up here a lot i believe also in the past talking about incitement saying just a year ago, nobody else is ready to help out but qatar when it comes to gaza. here's a perfect example of a situation that we're dealing with. we've had three wars between israel and hamas over the last few years in gaza with large casualties for palestinians large casua

dr. schanzer and i'd like like to welcome back dr. matthew leavitt's who directs the program and counterterrorism and intelligence at the washington institute for near east policy. previously he served as the deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and analysis at the u.s. department of the treasury. before that as a fbi counterterrorism analyst. we are glad to have you back with us today dr. leavitt. finally i would like to welcome elon goldenberg is a senior fellow and her of the middle east security program at the center for a new american security. prior to cnas mr. goldberg served as the chief of the staff to the special envoy for israeli-palestinian negotiations at the u.s. department of state from 2012 to 2013 mr. goldenberg served as a senior professional staff member on the senate or in relations committee covering middle east issues. in that capacity he acted as one of the elite directors of the serious transition support act which provide additional authorities to arm the serious opposition. the bill passed the senate f

dr. schanzer and i'd like like to welcome back dr. matthew leavitt's who directs the program and counterterrorism and intelligence at the washington institute for near east policy. previously he served as the deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and analysis at the u.s. department of the treasury. before that as a fbi counterterrorism analyst. we are glad to have you back with us today dr. leavitt. finally i would like to welcome elon goldenberg is a senior fellow and her of the middle east security program at the center for a new american security. prior to cnas mr. goldberg served as the chief of the staff to the special envoy for israeli-palestinian negotiations at the u.s. department of state from 2012 to 2013 mr. goldenberg served as a senior professional staff member on the senate or in relations committee covering middle east issues. in that capacity he acted as one of the elite directors of the serious transition support act which provide additional authorities to arm the serious opposition. the bill passed the senate f

dr. schanzer, how would you describe qatar's relationship with iran? >> uneasy. although also a bit more ambiguous than what has been previously described. that they arense a small country, a weak country and are looking across the persian gulf at a powerful country on the precipice of a nuclear weapon and the need to figure out a way to get along with his neighbor, especially one with eight share this natural gas field. i think that explains in general the dynamic, but we have been hearing that there could be more cooperation and was previously seen. this is essentially what the gulf protect has been alleging against qatar that it has been working the iranians or perhaps with the proxies, i've heard allegations not just of hamas, where we know there has been a , butration on all fronts also potentially has the law. we have heard these things and there's not a lot of evidence yet to prove these things, but it is something worth watching. thatere are also reports qatari money has ended up in iraq and the iranian backed blessed groups there. >> correct. >> what abo