http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1151941.html
Mosab Hassan Yousef.
(Yossi Sasson)
Last update - 14:32 24/02/2010
Haaretz exclusive: Hamas founder's son worked for Shin Bet for years
By Avi Issacharoff
The son of a leading Hamas figure, who famously converted to Christianity,
served for over a decade as the Shin Bet security service's most valuable
source in the militant organization's leadership, Haaretz has learned.
Mosab Hassan Yousef is the son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a Hamas founder and one
of its leaders in the West Bank. The intelligence he supplied Israel led to the
exposure of a number of terrorist cells, and to the prevention of dozens of
suicide bombings and assassination attempts on Israeli figures.
The exclusive story will appear in this Friday's Haaretz Magazine, and Yousef's
memoir, "Son of Hamas" (written with Ron Brackin) will be released next week in
the United States. Yousef, 32, became a devout Christian 10 years ago and now
lives in California after fleeing the West Bank in 2007 and going public with
his conversion.
Yousef was considered the Shin Bet's most reliable source in the Hamas
leadership, earning himself the nickname "the Green Prince" - using the color
of the Islamist group's flag, and "prince" because of his pedigree as the son
of one of the movement's founders.
During the second intifada, intelligence Yousef supplied led to the arrests of
a number of high-ranking Palestinian figures responsible for planning deadly
suicide bombings. These included Ibrahim Hamid (a Hamas military commander in
the West Bank, Marwan Barghouti (founder of the Fatah-linked Tanzim militia)
and Abdullah Barghouti (a Hamas bomb-maker with no close relation to the Fatah
figure). Yousef was also responsible for thwarting Israel's plan to assassinate
his father.
"I wish I were in Gaza now," Yousef said by phone from California, "I would put
on an army uniform and join Israel's special forces in order to liberate Gilad
Shalit. If I were there, I could help. We wasted so many years with
investigations and arrests to capture the very terrorists that they now want to
release in return for Shalit. That must not be done."
The story of Yousef's spiritual transformation appeared in Haaretz Magazine in
August 2008. Only now, however, is Yousef exposing the secret he kept since
1996, when he was first held by Shin Bet agents seeking to enlist him in
infiltrating the upper echelon of Hamas.
Their efforts proved successful, and Yousef was released from prison in 1997.
His former handler, who no longer serves with the security service, says Yousef
collaborated with Israel because he wanted to save lives.
"So many people owe him their life and don't even know it," said the handler,
named in Yousef's book as Captain Loai. "People who did a lot less were awarded
the Israel Security Prize. He certainly deserves it."
Loai makes no secret of his admiration for his former source. "The amazing
thing is that none of his actions were done for money," he says. "He did things
he believed in. He wanted to save lives. His grasp of intelligence matters was
just as good as ours - the ideas, the insights. One insight of his was worth
1,000 hours of thought by top experts."
Loai recalled one time when the Shin Bet received information that a suicide
bomber was going to be picked up at Manara Square in Ramallah and be given an
explosives belt.
"We didn't know his name or what he looked like - only that he was in his 20s
and would be wearing a red shirt," he said. "We sent the Green Prince to the
square and with his acute sense, he located the target within minutes. He saw
who picked him up, followed the car and made it possible for us to arrest the
suicide bomber and the man who was supposed to give him the belt. So another
attack was thwarted, though no one knows about it. No one opens Champagne
bottles or bursts into song and dance. This was an almost daily thing for the
Prince. He displayed courage, had sharp antennae and an ability to cope with
danger. We knew he was one of those who in any situation - rain, snow, summer -
give their all."
With his memoir, Yousef hopes to send a message of peace to Israelis. Still, he
admits he is pessimistic over the prospect of Israel signing a peace agreement
with the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority, let alone Hamas.
"Hamas cannot make peace with the Israelis. That is against what their God
tells them. It is impossible to make peace with infidels, only a cease-fire,
and no one knows that better than I. The Hamas leadership is responsible for
the killing of Palestinians, not Israelis," he said. "Palestinians! They do not
hesitate to massacre people in a mosque or to throw people from the 15th or
17th floor of a building, as they did during the coup in Gaza. The Israelis
would never do such things. I tell you with certainty that the Israelis care
about the Palestinians far more than the Hamas or Fatah leadership does."
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http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1152040.html
Last update - 19:51 24/02/2010
Hamas: Story about leader's son on Shin Bet payroll is Zionist propaganda
By Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Israel news, Hamas
Hamas on Wednesday attempted to refute the exclusive published in Haaretz about
Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of a Hamas founder and one of its leaders in the
West Bank, who also worked for Israel's Shin Bet security service for 10 years.
Mosab Hassan Yousef is the son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a Hamas founder and one
of its leaders in the West Bank. The intelligence he supplied Israel led to the
exposure of a number of terrorist cells, and to the prevention of dozens of
suicide bombings and assassination attempts on Israeli figures.
The exclusive story will appear in this Friday's Haaretz Magazine, and Yousef's
memoir, "Son of Hamas" (written with Ron Brackin) will be released next week in
the United States. Yousef, 32, became a devout Christian 10 years ago and now
lives in California after fleeing the West Bank in 2007 and going public with
his conversion.
Hamas parliament member Mushir a-Masri said that the article was not worthy of
a response and called it Zionist propaganda against the Palestinian people.
Haaretz has learned that senior Hamas officials pressured Yousef not to pursue
the publication of his story.
Arab media outlets on Wednesday reported widely on the affair. Various
commentators and reporters have suggested that Israel wanted the Yousef story
published as a means of distraction from the recent assassination of Hamas
military commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai.
The Yousef family in Ramallah has said that the article is libelous.
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