Explained | How Netanyahu helped turn Hamas into his Frankenstein's monster

As the war grinds on between Israel and Hamas, one should not forget the decades-old “alliance” between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Gaza-based terrorist organisation.

The basis of this collaboration of more than a decade was their shared hatred for the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Let us break it down for you.

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Netanyahu assumed the PM's office in 2009 and since then, he has tried to shore up Hamas in order to ostracise the PA.

Netanyahu always opposed peace efforts between Hamas and the PA

He opposed reconciliation efforts between Hamas and Fatah, the political party backed by PA leader Mahmoud Abbas.

A glaring example came in late 2017. The peace efforts were going on, with support from the US and Egypt. One of the major hurdles in reaching the peace deal was Hamas’ assertion that it won’t be subordinate to the PA.

However, it agreed to transfer all political powers to the PA in Gaza, while refusing to lay down its arms.

During that time, Netanyahu reportedly made all possible efforts to derail that deal, while claiming that “reconciliation between Hamas and the PLO makes achieving peace harder.”

Bibi believed that peace between Hamas and PA would pave the way for a united Palestine, essentially leading to a two-state solution, an idea Netanyahu vehemently opposes.

In May 2019, former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak further confirmed this during an interview with Channel 13. “Netanyahu isn’t interested in a two-state solution. Rather, he wants to separate Gaza from the West Bank, as he told me at the end of 2010,” he said.

Netanyahu’s pro-Hamas policies

Under his rule, Netanyahu ensured Hamas got unhindered access to funds flowing in from Qatar and Iran. He did almost nothing to install checks and balances even as he knew much of it might be directed towards funding terrorism and the flowering of militant ideology.

Without these funds, Hamas would never have developed such a strong military arm, eventually carrying out the dastardly terrorist attack of October 7.

In March 2019, Netanyahu himself admitted that he supported the policy of enriching Hamas to keep the PA at bay.

“Whoever opposes a Palestinian state must support delivery of funds to Gaza because maintaining separation between the PA in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza will prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state,” he said during a meeting with Likud MKs (Members of Knesset).

Netanyahu had this clear plan in mind: To hurt Abbas and prevent the division of the land of Israel into two states, Hamas must be shored up.

Operation Protective Edge

It is also a fact that under Netanyahu’s rule, Hamas never faced any major, existential military threat from the Israeli forces. In fact, according to claims by several Israeli officials and ministers, it is Netanyahu himself who once stymied the IDF’s plans to obliterate the Hamas once and for all.

In 2014, IDF launched Operation Protective Edge in Gaza which had the potential to wipe Hamas off Gaza’s map. Netanyahu reportedly did something to derail that plan and shield Hamas.

Watch:Israel PM Netanyahu visits Gaza border, meets IDF soldiers | IDF Chief says 'ready for invasion'

He allegedly leaked to the media a presentation made by the Israeli military highlighting the potential repercussions and human cost of the operation.

The secret document was leaked to peddle this narrative that the operation against Hamas would lead to thousands of casualties for the IDF and it should not be initiated altogether.

Of course, the leak was never investigated. In closed-door meetings, Benny Gantz, IDF’s former chief of staff, is believed to have said, “Bibi leaked this.”

Top anti-Netanyahu voices

Many of Israel’s top military and political leaders have talked about this covert relationship between Hamas and Bibi.

In an interview published days before Hamas’ October 7 assault against Israel, Avigdor Lieberman, former finance minister, was quoted as saying by Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper that Bibi “continuously thwarted all the targeted assassinations” in Gaza.

In August 2019, former PM of Israel Ehud Barak said that Netanyahu’s strategy was to keep Hamas alive. “His strategy is to keep Hamas alive and kicking… even at the price of abandoning the citizens [of the south] … in order to weaken the PA in Ramallah,” he said.

Former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot in January 2022 claimed that Netanyahu always overruled what the National Security Council suggested—establish two states and engage with the PA. Israel did the exact opposite—it ostracised the PA and strengthened Hamas.

Pro-Netanyahu flank's argument

Pro-Netanyahu voices believe the biggest achievement of the prime minister is separating Gaza from the West Bank, thus virtually killing the idea of a two-state solution.

Netanyahu “basically smashed the vision of the Palestinian state in these two places,” said Jonatan Urich, one of Netanyahu’s media advisers and a Likud spokesman, in April 2019.

The very next month, another pro-Netanyahu voice, Gen (Res) Gershon Hacohen said, “When Netanyahu didn’t go to war in Gaza to defeat the Hamas regime, he basically prevented Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) from establishing a united Palestinian state.”

“We need to exploit the situation of separation created between Gaza and Ramallah. It’s an Israeli interest of the highest level, and you can’t understand the situation in Gaza without understanding this context,” he added, reinforcing Netanyahu’s divide-and-rule policy.

(With inputs from agencies)