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Israeli support for Hamas
The Israeli support for Hamas refers to direct involvement by Israeli authorities from different periods in the rise and empowerment of Palestinian militant group Hamas.[1][2][3] BackgroundSince Israel's victory in the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel has occupied the Palestinian territories, including the West Bank.[4] The occupation has been controversial, with Israel accused of violating international law, as well as committing human rights abuses and apartheid against Palestinians.[5] The Israeli government has also actively promoted the creation and growth of Israeli settlements in Palestine.[6] The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), an umbrella group representing several the most prominent Palestinian nationalist movements in the second half of the 20th century, has also been accused of a number of human rights violations and of waging a terrorist campaign against Israelis. Formed in the early 1960s, it became the dominant Palestinian movement throughout the second half of the 20th century.[7] Hamas is a newer Palestinian nationalist movement, formed as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood in the late 1980s, and is politically oriented towards conservative Islamism. Also accused of human rights violations and terrorism, it grew sharply in the 1990s, seizing power in the Gaza Strip in the mid-2000s.[8] HistoryOriginsIsrael refused to recognise the PLO until the Oslo Accords process in the 1990s, instead seeking to handle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through alternative bodies. In international negotiations, this particularly took the form of Arab state intermediaries, especially Jordan, such as via the Jordanian option, and Egypt following the late 1970s Camp David Accords. Israel also gave support to foreign military action against Arab nationalist governments, including to the French-British invasion of Egypt during the mid-1950s Suez Canal Crisis, to the royalists in the 1960s North Yemen civil war, and to the Islamic Republic of Iran during the 1980s Iran–Iraq war.[9][10] Within the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the search for alternatives to the PLO particularly took the form of encouraging the creation of non-PLO groups that Israeli officials belived would better represent Palestinians and would be more cooperative with Israel,[11] while simultaneously cracking down and taking military action against PLO centres of influence. One prominent example of this policy was the Palestinian Village Leagues in the late 1970s and early 1980s, who were based on rural traditional societal structures and were provided weapons by Israel, while the Israeli government simultaneously moved to forcibly disband elected Palestinian urban city councils, who were mostly run by supporters of the PLO.[9][12][13] [14][15] Another alternative to the PLO encouraged by Israeli officials was Islamist politician Ahmed Yassin, a Muslim Brotherhood member who ran a network of mosques, clubs, and schools in Gaza. During the 1970s and 1980s, Israel granted licences and support to Yassin so that he could build and expand his network.[2] American research Jonathan Schanzer wrote that "by the late 1970s, the Israelis believed that they had found Fatah’s Achilles’ heel... Fatah had become anxious over the growing influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza," saying that the Israeli subsequently "made the ill-fated decision to permit the Brotherhood to operate with relatively little oversight" so that it would undermine the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).[16] In the late 1980s, Yassin's network would evolve into the armed Islamist and nationalist group Hamas.[17] Former Israeli officials have openly acknowledged Israel's role in providing funding and assistance to Yassin's network as a means of undermining the secular, left-wing Palestinian factions that made up the PLO. Brigadier General Yitzhak Segev, who served as the Israeli military governor in Gaza during the early 1980s, admitted to providing financial assistance to Mujama Al-Islamiya, the precursor of Hamas, on the instruction of the Israeli authorities.[2] Former Israeli Civil Administration director Efraim Sneh stated in 1992 that "we saw the fundamentalists mainly as an unthreatening social force aiming to improve the bad conditions and standards of living of the Palestinians... We know now that we must make a distinction between Hamas, with whom we have nothing in common, and the moderates, mainstream secular elements among the Palestinians."[11] In 2018, historian Uri Milstein quoted Yitzhak Mordechai, who served as head of the Southern Command from 1986 to 1989, as saying that "I was very familiar with Gaza from my previous positions. But when I took charge of the Southern Command, I was shocked by the number of mosques that had been recently constructed in Gaza. As it turned out, Israel’s strategists had been supportive of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin’s charitable organization."[18] PolicyUpon a visit to Israel from Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz and Turkish lawmaker Feyzi İşbaşaran in 1998, it was revealed that Netanyahu suggested Turkey support Hamas. Netanyahu said, "Hamas also has bank accounts for aid in banks, we help them too, you [Turkey] can help too."[19][20] Israeli backing of Qatar sending millions of dollars to GazaQatar started sending money to the Gaza Strip on a monthly basis in 2018. $15 million worth of cash-filled suitcases were transported into Gaza by the Qataris via Israeli territory. The payments commenced due to the 2017 decision by the Palestinian Authority (PA), an administration in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and rival to Hamas, to cut government employee salaries in Gaza. At the time, the PA objected to the funds, which Hamas said was intended for both medical and governmental salary payments. In August 2018, Israel's government approved the agreement.[21] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has defended allowing transfer of millions of dollars to Hamas-run Gaza despite criticism from within his own government, including the education minister Naftali Bennet.[22] After the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, Netanyahu went on record denying the claims that he facilitated financing of Hamas in order to create a 'divide and conquer' situation. He also said that he transferred funds to avoid "humanitarian collapse" in Gaza.[23] Israeli intelligence officials believe that the money had a role in the success of 2023 Hamas-led attack.[24] Work permits granted by IsraelTalks regarding expanding the amount of work permits Israel issued to Gazan laborers also included officials from Hamas. This kept money flowing into Gaza.[1] DebatesUse of Hamas to undermine the Palestinian AuthorityIn an interview with Politico in 2023, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that "In the last 15 years, Israel did everything to downgrade the Palestinian Authority and to boost Hamas." He continued saying "Gaza was on the brink of collapse because they had no resources, they had no money, and the PA refused to give Hamas any money. Bibi saved them. Bibi made a deal with Qatar and they started to move millions and millions of dollars to Gaza."[25] At a Likud party conference in 2019, Benyamin Netanyahu said:[26][27]
Prime Minister Netanyahu responded to the accusations of funding and strengthening Hamas by calling them "ridiculous".[28] Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right lawmaker and finance minister under Netanyahu Government, called the Palestinian Authority a "burden" and Hamas an "asset".[29] Allegations of Israeli support for the creation of HamasOn January 19, 2024, Reuters reported that Josep Borrell, the EU foreign policy chief, said while receiving an honorary doctorate from the University of Valladolid that "Israel had financed the creation of Palestinian militant group Hamas, publicly contradicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has denied such allegations." and that "Borrell added the only peaceful solution included the creation of a Palestinian state. 'We only believe a two-state solution imposed from the outside would bring peace even though Israel insists on the negative,' he said." [30] [31] Borrell also described Israel as having "created Hamas", but immediately continued saying that "yes, Hamas was financed by Israel to weaken the Palestinian Authority". [32] [33] [34] Professor Avner Cohen, a former Israeli religious affairs official, publicly acknowledged that Hamas was "Israel's creation."[35] Similar statements have been made by Yasser Arafat.[36] Use of Hamas as a tool to disengage from peace talksShlomo Brom, retired general and former deputy to Israel's national security adviser, believes that an empowered Hamas helps Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu avoid negotiatings over a Palestinian state, suggesting that there is no viable partner for peace talks.[24] See also
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