The point of this diary is not to defend Hamas. As a believer in the stict separation of church and state, I have no use for any theocratic organization that seeks to become the state. Rather, the purpose of this diary is to point out that Hamas received crucial support from Israel in the 1970s and 80s as part of Israel's efforts to weaken the secular PLO. Following "the worse the better" theory, Israel sought to make any potential leader of a Palestinian state illegitmate to the west as part of its effort build a "Greater Israel." Call it blowback, or Frankenstein's monster, but Israel is now reaping what it sowed. All that is left is hypocrisy and a whitewash of history.
Israel and Hamas may currently be locked in deadly combat, but, according to several current and former U.S. intelligence officials, beginning in the late 1970s, Tel Aviv gave direct and indirect financial aid to Hamas over a period of years.
Israel "aided Hamas directly -- the Israelis wanted to use it as a
counterbalance to the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization)," said Tony Cordesman, Middle East analyst for the Center for Strategic Studies.
Israel's support for Hamas "was a direct attempt to divide and dilute
support for a strong, secular PLO by using a competing religious
alternative," said a former senior CIA official.
. . . .
When the intifada began, Israeli leadership was surprised when Islamic
groups began to surge in membership and strength. Hamas immediately grew in numbers and violence. The group had always embraced the doctrine of armed struggle, but the doctrine had not been practiced and Islamic groups had not been subjected to suppression the way groups like Fatah had been, according to U.S. government officials.
But with the triumph of the Khomeini revolution in Iran, with the birth of Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorism in Lebanon, Hamas began to gain in
strength in Gaza and then in the West Bank, relying on terror to resist the Israeli occupation.
Israel was certainly funding the group at that time. One U.S. intelligence source who asked not to be named said that not only was Hamas being funded as a "counterweight" to the PLO . . . .
"The thinking on the part of some of the right-wing Israeli establishment was that Hamas and the others, if they gained control, would refuse to have any part of the peace process and would torpedo any agreements put in place," said a U.S. government official who asked not to be named.
. . . .
An Israeli defense official was asked if Israel had given aid to Hamas said, "I am not able to answer that question. I was in Lebanon commanding a unit at the time, besides it is not my field of interest."
. . . .
The Israeli Embassy press office referred UPI to its Web site when asked to comment.
http://web.archive.org/...