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Fact check: Israeli government funding for hamas over the PLO, the reasoning behind it, and whether trying to prevent Palestinian statehood is a reasonable security justification.
1. Summary of the results
The evidence strongly indicates that the Israeli government did provide strategic support to Hamas, with multiple high-level confirmations:
- Multiple Israeli officials, including Brigadier General Yitzhak Segev and former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, have acknowledged providing direct support to Hamas [1]
- Netanyahu explicitly stated at a 2019 Likud party conference that "Anyone who wants to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state has to support bolstering Hamas and transferring money to Hamas" [1]
- The support included direct financial assistance to Ahmed Yassin's network and licensing of his organizations [1]
- More recently, Netanyahu's government actively encouraged and facilitated Qatari payments to Hamas [2]
2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints
Several important contextual elements need to be considered:
- The PLO and Hamas represent fundamentally different approaches - while the PLO showed pragmatic tendencies, Hamas is characterized as a jihadist organization unlikely to change its core ideology [3]
- The support for Hamas was part of a broader strategy that included:
3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement
The question of whether preventing Palestinian statehood is a "reasonable security justification" requires examining who benefits from different narratives:
- The Israeli government's strategy was a "calculated political gamble" that ultimately failed, as demonstrated by the October 7th attacks [2]
- The policy benefited specific political interests:
- Netanyahu's government used it to maintain political control and prevent Palestinian statehood [1]
- Hamas benefited through direct financial support and legitimacy [1]
- The strategy involved multiple mechanisms beyond direct funding:
- Issuing work permits that kept money flowing
- Facilitating Qatari transfers
- Providing institutional support through licensing [1]
It's crucial to note that this wasn't just a security strategy but a political one with significant consequences for both Israeli and Palestinian civilians.