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Freddy Eytan

Amb. Freddy Eytan, a former Foreign Ministry senior adviser who served in Israel’s embassies in Paris and Brussels, was Israel’s first Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania and a researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs

The dangerous legitimization of Hamas by the Americans

How can Trump applaud and endorse the alliance of the Sunni triumvirate: Wealthy Saudi Arabia, Turkey hostile to Israel, and Pakistan with its nuclear bomb? How can we explain the dismay at Iran's blackmail and threats, and the legitimization of Hamas, the Islamist terrorist organization responsible for the barbaric and abominable massacre of October 7, 2023?

Jared Kushner's recent meeting with a Hamas delegation led by Khalil al-Hayya in Egypt clearly breaks with the traditional policy of the American administration. Despite all the security assurances given to Netanyahu in Jerusalem, and despite the pragmatic approach aimed at breaking taboos and imposing the second phase of the roadmap for Gaza, how can Donald Trump authorize direct negotiations with a terrorist organization? Why did he yield to pressure from Qatar, that cunning and scheming emirate? Why is he falling into another trap after suffering a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Iranian ayatollahs?

It seems that the United States wants to reach agreements quickly in order to leave its mark, declare victory and make profits, then leave the actors in the region to fend for themselves and finally concern itself exclusively with American domestic affairs.

America is truly weary of wars, seemingly drained of its military strength and moral values. It appears to be exhausted, profoundly weary of the various conflicts around the world, particularly those in the Middle East. Is the burden of the "world policeman" mission really so heavy and so draining for the once-mighty American nation? How can we explain the wavering, the inconsistencies in its rhetoric? The collapse of Pax-America? The feeling of powerlessness in the face of China's successes? How can Trump applaud and endorse the alliance of the Sunni triumvirate: wealthy Saudi Arabia, Turkey hostile to Israel, and Pakistan with its nuclear bomb? How can we explain the dismay at Iran's blackmail and threats, and the legitimization of Hamas, the Islamist terrorist organization responsible for the barbaric and abominable massacre of October 7, 2023?

For those with short memories, we recommend reading and rereading the various Hamas publications, particularly its Charter published on August 18, 1988. It's worth remembering that Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt by Imam Hassan al-Banna, Tariq Ramadan's grandfather…

For this brotherhood, allegiance to Allah is absolute. For the founder and spiritual leader of Hamas, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin (killed by the IDF on March 22, 2004), the commitment of the Islamic resistance movement is unequivocal: "Islam will wipe Israel off the face of the earth!"

The process of legitimizing the Muslim Brotherhood began with Barack Obama in Cairo after the fall of Hosni Mubarak. Following in Jimmy Carter's footsteps, Obama also promoted "democratic Palestinian elections" (the last since), which triggered three years later: the famous Arab Spring, a civil war in Syria, and the creation of the Islamic State with ISIS.

Since Hamas seized power in Gaza, Western powers have lacked the courage to label it a terrorist organization. They distinguish between the armed wing and the political leadership, just as they did with Hezbollah.

What naiveté! What ignorance of Hamas' true intentions, its ideology, and its charter, which, incidentally, has never been amended? Hamas still claims the "liberation" of all of Palestine, "from the river to the sea." A slogan repeated ad nauseam, chanted, and freely written in the streets of Paris, London, and New York.

It clearly means the destruction of the Jewish state. Furthermore, this movement calls for the murder of Jews and glorifies holy war, global jihad. It still considers Israel to be part of the "Muslim Holy Land," a territory where Jews have no right to live.

Encouraged, financed, and trained by Iranian instructors, Hamas leaders violate fundamental human rights. They do not envision any serious reconciliation with the Palestinian Authority; their priority remains seizing Palestinian power. Their disastrous policies have transformed the Gaza Strip into a gigantic trap and plunged the Palestinian people into misery and despair.

Since October 7, 2023, the IDF's operations have clearly demonstrated that Hamas' terrorist actions, its deliberate and cynical use of the civilian population of Gaza as human shields, and its military arsenals stored in mosques, hospitals, and schools constitute serious violations of International Humanitarian Law. It should be emphasized that the use of terror is prohibited under international law and is enshrined in several resolutions adopted by the United Nations Security Council, particularly after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

It is clear that implementing the second phase for Gaza is complex and very difficult for foreign contingents to carry out. Therefore, the entire responsibility for disarming Hamas's military arsenal rests with the United States.

In the explosive situation we are experiencing and on the eve of the legislative elections, Israel will have to be uncompromising on security issues and obtain robust guarantees from the United States.

After the implementation of the 15 points of the roadmap, Israel will finally be able to withdraw from the Gaza Strip. Let's not repeat the dangerous mistakes of the past.

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