Netanyahu’s cynical strategy – bolster Hamas to ensure there will be no Palestinian state
JVL Introduction
Western leaders and their Israeli allies like to portray themselves as peace-loving defenders of liberal, Judeo-Christian democratic values, permanently locked in struggle with barbaric Islamic fundamentalist movements. History tells a different story, occasionally revealed in popular culture, such as the 1987 Cold War Bond movie The Living Daylights in which 007 makes common cause with romantic mujahadin rebels fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan.
This interview with Israeli historian Adam Raz by +972 Magazine editor-in-chief Ghousoon Bisharat shows Benjamin Netanyahu’s policy towards Hamas betraying the same self-interested cynicism.
NWI
This article was originally published by +972 Magazine on Mon 11 Nov 2024. Read the original here.
The not-so-secret history of Netanyahu’s support for Hamas
From sabotaging Oslo to funneling Qatari cash into Gaza, Bibi has spent his career bolstering Hamas to help perpetuate the conflict. Even after Oct. 7, argues historian Adam Raz, he’s still advancing the same strategy.
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The claim that Netanyahu has promoted Hamas to divide the Palestinian leadership was being made 25 years ago. It was true then, and is true now. The other purpose of Hamas from the Israeli standpoint is that it can be used to portray the Palestinians as terrorist Islamic extremists. There was an article published the day after the 7 October attacks by Hamas in the Times of Israel by Tal Schneider, titled ‘For years, Netanyahu propped up Hamas. Now it’s blown up in our faces’. The article may not add very much to the comments above, but it is collateral for them.