Israel drove suitcases stuffed with cash into Gaza to keep Hamas in power

Silverseren@kbin.social to World News@lemmy.world – 939 points –
Israel drove suitcases stuffed with cash into Gaza to keep Hamas in power: NYT
businessinsider.com

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.

227

You are viewing a single comment

They fed a monster to destroy diplomacy and then act surprised when the monster mauled them.

Because it then gives justification to seize the land

I doubt it was the initial plan but that certainly seems to be how they are rolling now. Now they have a solid casus belli to justify massive bombing on a population.

It might be a bit naïve to assume that wasn’t the initial plan. I’m not sure which is the case, but I wouldn’t put it past the right-wing coalition parties to be knowingly creating an enemy to have them attack you so you can attack back with the force of a thousand suns. It’s a pretty smart plan, they’ve just bungled what they thought would be the international response because the West has always backed Israel 100% without a hint of criticism.

7 more...
7 more...

Not quite. Hamas and Netanyahu are still quite comfortable. It creates a political situation they both want. The latter is "surprised" at all the innocent people the monster killed, but in reality they don't give a shit. The government gets to consolidate its strength and kill more people.

They're enriching themselves off the backs of the Palestinian and Israeli people.

7 more...