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#2 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-06-12 10:53 AM
For years, Netanyahu propped up Hamas. Now it's blown up in our faces
www.timesofisrael.com

Good article, if you read what it actually says and avoid the author's "editorial conclusions" - the content itself completely refutes the headline and intentional narrative of blaming Netanyahu for "policy of propping" Hamas - article was written a day after Hamas attack on October 7 2023, with expected reflexive finger-pointing and scapegoating, especially by opposition parties and press, like in all democracies. It's like reading NY Post op-ed to form opinion about Bidens or Obamas.


FTA: For years, the various governments led by Benjamin Netanyahu took an approach that divided power between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank

Hamas took care of "dividing power" when it won elections in Gaza in 2006 and then hunted and threw Fatah / PA members and their families from the rooftops. Was "uniting" them a job of Netanyahu's or any other government of Israel?

www.encyclopedia.com - al-Fatah
www.encyclopedia.com - Hamas
en.wikipedia.org - Fatah - Hamas conflict


FTA: The idea was to prevent Abbas - or anyone else in the Palestinian Authority's West Bank government - from advancing toward the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Again, bass-ackwards "mainstream" opposition opinion.

See above links, Israel didn't need to do anything - corrupt and bankrupt PA could barely keep all factions together, let alone joining Hamas in forming some kind of Palestinian state, when Hamas' stated goal is "Palestine" in place of Israel.

Were Netanyahu and others unhappy about continued internecine warfare and split between the PA and Hamas? No, same way Putin is pleased with Dems and GOP at each other throats or USA split from NATO and Israel. But "propping up Hamas" was not needed to get there.


FTA: Hamas was also included in discussions about increasing the number of work permits Israel granted to Gazan laborers, which kept money flowing into Gaza, meaning food for families and the ability to purchase basic products.

Oh horrors! They were letting tens of thousands of Gazans to cross the border to work in Israel (just like workers from West Bank **) to make several times what they could in Gaza - so much for Israel's "policy of starvation" and "genocide"!

Hamas is the "Highest Governing Authority" in Gaza - who else would Israel discuss work permits with, or supplying Gaza with electricity and water (for which Hamas refuses to pay) and letting in food and medicine that Hamas "distributors" kept intercepting?


FTA: ... Netanyahu-led governments have practically turned a blind eye to the incendiary balloons and rocket fire from Gaza.

More nonsense - every time Israel responded to missiles attacks, US governments demanded "ceasefire".


FTA: Israel has allowed suitcases holding millions in Qatari cash to enter Gaza...

Obviously! Letting UN's Humanitarian Cash Assistance program to Gaza (and shhh! "financing intelligence activities" shhh! ***) pass through Qatar has been a long-standing negotiated policy.

None of this was "propping Hamas" or "making Hamas stronger" - the billions making Hamas (and Hezbollah, Houthis etc.) stronger came from Iran and other parties, for missiles and tunnels.
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** www.timesofisrael.com - Barred from working in Israel, West Bank Palestinians pay a price for Gaza's war | With permits down to 11% of pre-October 7 levels, laborers once dependent on Israel for decent wages are drowning... - July 19, 2025

|------- ... The October 7 attack reinvigorated distrust in Palestinians for many Israelis, which was coupled with suspicions that Gazans who had entered Israel in the past had provided intelligence to attackers regarding the communities they had worked in.

But the decision to severely limit permits marked a change: In the past, defense officials had insisted on keeping them in place even after attacks originating in the West Bank. Indeed, terror incidents involving Palestinians with permits to work in Israel, who must undergo an intensive Shin Bet vetting process, have been rare.

At the same time, small numbers of West Bank Palestinians without permits have continued to find their way into Israel, whether to work or carry out attacks " or sometimes both. The assailants in a fatal January 2024 attack in Ra'anana had been working illegally in Israel in the period leading up to the rampage, and that attack was just one of several acts of terrorism inside Israel committed by Palestinians from the West Bank during the Gaza War, despite heavy IDF deployment there.
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*** How else would Mossad and IDF identify, locate and eliminate top Hamas leaders and other terrorists hiding in Gaza? Intelligence and special ops require funding.



BTW, the security level of annual Pride Parade in Tel Aviv-Yafo on June 12 was elevated due to reports of possible violence. 4-day Pride festival on June 1-4, 2026 at Dead Sea was largest in history of the Middle East. No public Pride celebrations were held in West Bank or Gaza.

www.secrettelaviv.com - Pride in Tel Aviv 2026 Guide - 1 June 2026 - 30 June 2026
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