-Caveat Lector- >From http://www.leb.net/pipermail/arab-american/2001-February/004055.html
}}}>Begin [Arab-Amer] Fw: [Spy News] Israel gave major to aid to Hamas Mashney [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sun, 25 Feb 2001 15:47:09 -0800 Previous message: [Arab-Amer] Fw: [FreePalestine] Lebanese town scores record with tabbouleh -- this is for fun Next message: RCPT: Re: [Arab-Amer] Teaching About the Arab World Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] From: "Mario Profaca" Sent: Sunday, February 25, 2001 12:52 PM Subject: [Spy News] Israel gave major to aid to Hamas > Israel gave major to aid to Hamas > http://www.vny.com/cf/News/upidetail.cfm?QID=162747 > > Saturday, 24 February 2001 11:28 (ET) > > > Israel gave major to aid to Hamas > By RICHARD SALE, Terrorism Correspondent > > NEW YORK, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, speaking > of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas recently described it as "the > deadliest terrorist group that we have ever had to face." > > Active in Gaza and the West Bank Hamas wants to liberate all of Palestine > and establish a radical Islamic state in place of Israel. It has gained > notoriety with its assassinations, car bombs and other acts of terrorism. > > But Sharon had left something out. > > 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," 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. > > According to documents obtained from the Israel-based Institute for > Counter Terrorism (ICT) by UPI, Hamas evolved from cells of the Muslim > Brotherhood, founded in Egypt in 1928. Islamic movements in Israel and > Palestine were "weak and dormant" until after the 1967 Six Day War in which > Israel scored a stunning victory over its Arab enemies. > > After 1967, a great part of the success of the Hamas/Muslim Brotherhood > was due to their activities among the refugees of the Gaza Strip. The > cornerstone of the Islamic movements success was an impressive social, > religious, educational and cultural infrastructure, called Da'wah, that > worked to ease the hardship of large numbers of Palestinian refugees, > confined to camps, and many of whom were living on the edge. > > "Social influence grew into political influence," first in the Gaza Strip, > then on the West Bank, said an administration official who spoke on > condition of anonymity. > > According to ICT papers, Hamas was legally registered in Israel in 1978 by > Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the movements spiritual leader, as an Islamic > Association by the name Al-Mujamma Al Islami, which widened its base of > supporters and sympathizers by religious propaganda and social work. > > Funds for the movement came from the oil-producing states and directly and > indirectly from Israel, according to U.S. intelligence officials. The PLO > was secular and leftist and promoted Palestinian nationalism. Hamas wanted > set up a transnational state under the rule of Islam, much like Khomeini's > Iran. > > What took Israeli leaders by surprise was the way the Islamic movements > began to surge after the Iranian revolution, after armed resistance to > Israel sprang up in southern Lebanon organized by an Iran-backed movement > called Hezbollah that bore similitaries to Hamas, these sources said. > > "Nothing stirs up the energy for imitation as much as success," commented > one administration expert. > > A further factor of Hamas' growth was the fact the PLO moved its base of > operations to Beirut in the 1980s, leaving the Islamic movements to > strengthen their influence in the Occupied Territories "as the court of last > resort," he said. > > When the intifada began, the Israeli leadership was further 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 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 US intelligence > source who asked not to be named, said that not only was Hamas being funded > as a "counterweight" to the PLO, Israeli aid had a more devious purpose: "to > help identify and channel towards Israeli agents Hamas members who were > dangerous terrorists." > > In addition, by infiltrating Hamas, Israeli informers could listen to > debates on policy and identify Hamas members who "were dangerous > hardliners," the official said. > > In the end, as Hamas set up a very comprehensive counterintelligence > system, many collaborators with Israel were weeded out and shot. Violent > acts of terrorism became the central tenet, and Hamas, unlike the PLO, was > unwilling to compromise in any way with Israel, refusing to acknowledge its > very existence. > > Even then, some in Israel saw some benefits to be had in trying to > continue to give Hamas support: "The thinking on the part of some of the > right-wing Israeli establishment was that Hamas and the other groups, if > they gained control, would refuse to have anything to do with the pace > process and would torpedo any agreements put in place," said a U.S. > government official. > > "Israel would still be the only democracy in the region for the United > States to deal with," he said. > All of which is viewed with disapproval by some former U.S. intelligence > officials. > > "The thing wrong with so many Israeli operations is that they try to be > too sexy," said former CIA official Vincent Cannestraro. Former State > Department counter-terrorism official Larry Johnson told UPI: "The Israelis > are their own worst enemies when it comes to fighting terrorism. They are > like a guy who sets fire to his hair and then tries to put it out by hitting > it with a hammer.They do more to incite and sustain terrorism than curb it." > > Aid to Hamas may have looked clever, "but it was hardly designed to help > smooth the waters," he said. "It gives weight to President George W Bush's > remark about there being a crisis in education." > > Cordesman said that a similar attempt by Egyptian intelligence to fund > Egypt's fundamentalists had also come to grief because of overcomplication. > > An Israeli Embassy defense official, asked if Israel had given aid to > Hamas replied: "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." > > Asked to confirm a report by U.S. officials that Brigadier General Yithaq > Segev, the military governor of Gaza, had told U.S. officials that he had > helped fund "Islamic movements as a counterweight to the PLO and > communists," the Israeli official said he could confirm only that he > believed that Segev had served back in 1986. > > The Israeli Embassy press office referred UPI to its Web site. > > > > -- > Copyright 2001 by United Press International. > All rights reserved. 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