Netanyahu: Hamas’s Darling

If there’s one person who can be pointed to as having nurtured Hamas over the years, it’s Benjamin Netanyahu. This isn’t a one-off mistake – it’s a long series of steps, a consistent and outrageous policy that has strengthened the murderous organization. All these steps bear his signature.

History will not forget the moment, during his first term as Prime Minister, when Netanyahu allowed Mousa Abu Marzook, a senior Hamas figure, to escape from the United States to Egypt. But it didn’t end there. Netanyahu released Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Hamas’ spiritual leader, who laid the ideological and military foundations that brought the organization to where it stands today. Only Ariel Sharon, with his famous calm determination, closed the account with Yassin and eliminated him.

In 2004, contrary to his declared ideology, Netanyahu supported the disengagement plan and voted in favor of expelling Jews from Gush Katif while aiding in the implementation of the move in the Knesset.

In the 2009 elections, Netanyahu promised to topple Hamas’s rule. This was the central theme of his election campaign, which gained broad support. And what happened in practice? He released Yahya Sinwar and 1,026 more terrorists as part of the Shalit deal. This release, presented as a “bold leadership decision,” strengthened Hamas and made it an even more dominant and dangerous force.

Netanyahu boasts that a “strong leader” can make tough decisions, like releasing terrorists. But the outcome is clear – Hamas grew stronger, and the security of the southern residents was abandoned. Netanyahu may like to portray himself as a strong leader, but under his rule, Hamas only became stronger, as did Hezbollah, the Iranian nuclear project, and other proxies that thrived under his leadership.

During Operation Protective Edge, when Avigdor Lieberman and Naftali Bennett demanded to go all the way and eliminate Hamas once and for all, Netanyahu prevented it. He even boasts in his latest book that he preferred to stop and avoid a decisive outcome.

In 2018, Lieberman again called for a forceful response to eliminate Hamas, but again, Netanyahu halted the move and opted for a ceasefire instead. Under Netanyahu, “arrangements” became a permanent policy – a euphemism for surrender to terrorism. This policy was embodied in the suitcases of dollars transferred to Hamas through Qatar, with complete disregard for the long-term consequences.

Even at the end of September 2023, about a week before the disaster of October 7, after another clash with Hamas, Netanyahu chose to continue the policy of surrender. Instead of resolving the situation, he approved an increase in the number of workers allowed from Gaza from 18,000 to 24,000, expanded the fishing zone, and increased Qatari funding by 50%. Instead of addressing the threats to the residents of the South, he chose to continue the policy of appeasement, which led to the disaster of October 7th.

And after the war began? Netanyahu once again acted to thwart a legislative initiative to apply the “Nazi and Nazi Collaborators Law” to Hamas terrorists and their collaborators, similar to the law used to prosecute Nazis. This initiative, led by MK Amit Halevi from Likud, together with coalition and opposition MKs, would have allowed Hamas terrorists to be brought to justice swiftly and efficiently. To this day, not a single terrorist from the Nukhba Force has been prosecuted.

History will not forgive Netanyahu. He is the man who nurtured Hamas for years. Today, it is clearer than ever that he is incapable of restoring security to Israeli citizens. He abandoned the residents of the Gaza envelope and the South, as well as those in the North. Israel needs a different kind of leadership that is truly strong – one that understands that decisive action is not only possible, but essential.