Israeli officials are facing backlash after years of Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu quietly allowing Hamas to remain in power.

But reporting in the New York Times has revealed that Netanyahu’s government was more hands-on about helping Hamas: they helped a Qatari diplomat bring suitcases of cash into Gaza, indirectly boosting the militant organization, according to the report.

The calculus — the Times reported on Sunday, citing Israeli officials, Netanyahu’s critics, and the man’s own reported statements — was to keep Hamas strong enough to counteract the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, allowing Netanyahu to avoid a two-state peace solution and keep both sides weak.

Israeli security officials got it wrong; they didn’t think Hamas was capable, or even interested, in launching a large attack against the Jewish state.

  • @kescusay
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    11 year ago

    Ummm, are you sure you responded to the right comment? I didn’t suggest Israel install a government in Gaza. I described something Netanyahu and his fellow conservatives did to keep Palestine from stabilizing, and I said Israel could have avoided the current state of affairs by not doing that.

    • @TserriednichThe4th
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      -31 year ago

      Conservative israelis def destablized palestinian government. But they cant prop hamas or pla. Palestinians have to do that. The conservative Israeli government just destablized hamas

      • @kescusay
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        21 year ago

        The article is literally about Israel stabilizing Hamas to keep it and the Palestinian Authority struggling for control and keeping Palestine destabilized overall.

        • @TserriednichThe4th
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          1 year ago

          Destablized hamas from the perspective of more violence is equivalent to stabilizing hamas against a state two solution. Apologies i was unclear.

          Palestinians voted in hamas, not pla

          • @[email protected]
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            010 months ago

            Palestinians voted in Hamas in 2006, almost 20 years ago. Many of the Palestinians who voted in Hamas are dead of natural causes, and many who are of voting age today did not vote in Hamas. And no 18-year term is valid in any democracy.