@Right_in_Virginia The second article - the NY Times piece. This is basically a regurgitation of blaming Bush for 9/11, except replace the word 'Bush' with 'Netanyahu'. Hindsight is 20/20. But keep in mind that these are policies Netanyahu inherited from his predecessors. And also keep in mind that when faced with the same question of giving all the money to the PA, you yourself said "No". So I am at a loss at your contempt with Netanyahu considering he did the same thing that you yourself proposed.
From the NY Times article:
As far back as December 2012, Mr. Netanyahu told the prominent Israeli journalist Dan Margalit that it was important to keep Hamas strong, as a counterweight to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. Mr. Margalit, in an interview, said that Mr. Netanyahu told him that having two strong rivals, including Hamas, would lessen pressure on him to negotiate toward a Palestinian state.
As pointed out in the previous post, the political objective here makes sense. At the time, the PA was by far the stronger faction. They just didn't have a solid backer like Iran. The policy has been a continuous demonstration that the Palestinians aren't really interested in a two-state solution. The only problem with it wasn't Netanyahu. It was Joe Biden. It is Biden - not Netanyahu - that empowered Hamas through their backer Iran. With $60 billion in annual oil revenues now coming in, their support for Hamas makes the Qatar money look like chump change.
More from the NY Times:
Mr. Netanyahu and his security aides slowly began reconsidering their strategy toward the Gaza Strip after several bloody and inconclusive military conflicts there against Hamas.
“Everyone was sick and tired of Gaza,” said Zohar Palti, a former director of intelligence for Mossad. “We all said, ‘Let’s forget about Gaza,’ because we knew it was a deadlock.”
After one of the conflicts, in 2014, Mr. Netanyahu charted a new course — emphasizing a strategy of trying to “contain” Hamas while Israel focused on Iran’s nuclear program and its proxy armies like Hezbollah.
This strategy was buttressed by repeated intelligence assessments that Hamas was neither interested in nor capable of launching a significant attack inside Israel.
So Netanyahu listened to Mossad's own assessments. And for this he should be crucified?
But there's more:
Yossi Kuperwasser, a former head of research for Israel’s military intelligence, said that some officials saw the benefits of maintaining an “equilibrium” in the Gaza Strip. “The logic of Israel was that Hamas should be strong enough to rule Gaza,” he said, “but weak enough to be deterred by Israel.”
The administrations of three American presidents — Barack Obama, Donald J. Trump and Joseph R. Biden Jr. — broadly supported having the Qataris playing a direct role in funding Gaza operations.
Well how do you like that? Obama, Trump, and Biden were all on board with it. Go figure. The things you learn by reading through the links you post. Have you ever considered reading them yourself before posting? (Don't answer that. It was rhetorical.)
