They allowed Qatar to pay Hamas.
For years, Netanyahu propped up Hamas. Now it’s blown up in our faces
The premier’s policy of treating the terror group as a partner, at the expense of Abbas and Palestinian statehood, has resulted in wounds that will take Israel years to heal from
Gazans celebrate by a destroyed Israeli tank at the broken Israel-Gaza border fence, east of Khan Younis, October 7, 2023. (AP/Yousef Masoud)
For years, the various governments led by Benjamin Netanyahu took an approach that divided power between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank — bringing Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to his knees while making moves that propped up the Hamas terror group.
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.
Thus, amid this bid to impair Abbas, Hamas was upgraded from a mere terror group to an organization with which Israel held indirect negotiations via Egypt, and one that was allowed to receive infusions of cash from abroad.
Meanwhile, Israel has allowed suitcases holding millions in Qatari cash to enter Gaza through its crossings since 2018, in order to maintain its fragile ceasefire with the Hamas rulers of the Strip.
Netanyahu nurtured Hamas 'for years,' Avigdor Liberman charges
"For years,
Netanyahu nurtured Hamas, and today, we are all paying the price," said Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Liberman in a post on X/Twitter on Friday morning.
Liberman noted in his social media post that he opposed the prime minister on the release of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and over 1,000 other terrorists in exchange for Gilad Schalit in 2011.
"Between 2016–2018, Netanyahu often ignored my warnings as defense minister," he added. "On December 21, 2016, I delivered him a detailed document in which I demanded a preemptive strike against the terror organization. I explicitly warned about Hamas’s intention to infiltrate Israeli territory with Nukhba forces, to seize communities, take hostages, and shake Israeli society."
Liberman said that "time after time," Netanyahu prevented targeted strikes against Hamas leaders, which he claimed other members of the security echelon could back up.
Liberman says Netanyahu propped up Hamas with Qatar money
In late 2018,
Liberman said that he had pushed for another operation to eliminate Hamas, but Netanyahu passed a ceasefire and pursued an “arrangement” policy with Qatar. The Yisrael Beytenu head claimed that this policy transferred thousands of dollars from Qatar to Hamas.
Liberman said that this caused him to resign as defense minister that year.
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