Since he took power in 1995, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani believed Qatar could find security only by transforming itself from a Saudi vassal state to a rival of Saudi Arabia. When Hamad bin Khalifa assumed power, Qatar was in a better position to chart its own path than any time prior because of the massive wealth it had gained from hydrocarbon extraction. Among his early actions that the drew the ire of the Saudis were forming ties with Iran and Israel and establishing Al Jazeera in 1996.[2]