Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress and a prolific Jewish philanthropist and GOP donor, appeared among other guests at the Lusail Palace in Doha, Qatar, on Wednesday to greet President Donald Trump and Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Lauder, who will be in Israel next week for the 17th plenary assembly of the WJC, has met with Qatari leadership several times since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, largely to advocate for the release of hostages held in Gaza. 

He led a WJC delegation to Doha weeks after the attack, where he “engaged in pivotal discussions with leaders in Qatar” and said he “trust[ed] that the esteemed Arab leaders will dedicate their efforts to saving lives,” according to a WJC statement from the time. 

Weeks later, during the first ceasefire and hostage-release in the Israel-Gaza war, Lauder expressed his “profound gratitude to the government of Qatar and its leadership, along with the leaders of the United States and Egypt, for their significant role in facilitating” the agreement.

Lauder also met with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Al Thani in Paris in September 2024 to advocate for the hostages, a meeting that was attended by then-Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz.

In addition to Lauder, Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman — another prominent Jewish philanthropist — also participated in Trump’s visit to Qatar, meeting with the governor of the Qatar Central Bank, Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud Al Thani. 

Qatar is facing growing scrutiny and criticism over its support for Hamas and other terrorist organizations around the world, as well as antisemitism. 

Earlier this year, Lauder, a former American ambassador and deputy defense secretary for NATO affairs who has in the past acted as an unofficial emissary of the United States, launched a multi-country tour focused on Israeli-Palestinian peace. In February, the former cosmetics executive delivered an address and participated in an onstage interview at the Munich Security Conference on the topic. The following day, he traveled to Cairo where he met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. From there, he traveled to Amman, meeting with both Jordanian King Abdullah II and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

According to the WJC spokesperson, the meetings focused on “[bringing] about a resolution to the ongoing conflict” between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. His office would not comment on the specific topics of discussion beyond that and declined to say if he’d coordinated his meetings with the Israeli government.

Onstage and in his meetings, Lauder stressed the need for the creation of an independent Palestinian state, which he said was necessary for Middle East peace — a break from not only right-wing voices in Israel, but even from more center and center-left Israeli politicians, who following the Oct. 7 attacks and past 19 months of war describe a two-state solution as at most an increasingly distant goal. Lauder long aligned himself with Israel’s conservative Likud party, but has moved away from it, in part due to differences with its current head, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Not only do I believe in a two-state solution, I believe more than I’ve ever believed in a two-state solution because I believe there can be no peace in the Middle East without a two-state solution. And I believe it can happen,” he said.