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.
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