Grisha Yakubovich, a retired Israeli colonel, said early this week that no one understands Israel more than Hamas’ leadership.
In an article published on the website of MirYam Institute, Yakubovich wrote: “When it comes to the domestic political crisis raging within Israel’s borders, Hamas is currently on the fence about how to react.”
Hamas has not been similar to Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad, he explained. “Hamas is aware that democracy is one of Israel’s primary strengths,” he wrote.
Yakubovich stated that Hamas recognises this strength because, in over 30 weeks of mass political demonstrations in Israel, it has not attacked any of these rallies.
“That appears to be a deliberate choice. It is based on the calculation that assaulting the protesters will backfire, and that this would be a foolish move for Hamas,” Yakubovich said, adding: “This conclusion was likely reached after Hamas completed a strategic and operational examination of its options.”
The Palestinian resistance group has concluded, Yakubovich said: “For now at least, to stay on the sidelines and ‘let the Jews tear themselves apart.’”
Yakubovich said: “Hamas takes advantage of the Israeli divide to advance its goal of making its narrative the dominant in the Palestinian arena,” pointing out the actions of the Israeli right “will assist its efforts to position itself as the leading faction in the West Bank.”
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He claimed that Hamas “has doubled down on its efforts” to carry out and support resistance in the occupied territories.
The retired colonel said that Hamas presents itself as the defender of the Palestinians at the time that the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Fatah are seen “as a collaborator of Israel, and depict the PA’s security operations in Jenin… as part of that collaboration.”
Yakubovich claimed that “Hamas very much hopes that far-right Israeli figures, such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, will continue to stir up trouble in the West Bank. Meanwhile, Hamas is also pressing Israel, Egypt, and others to increase the quantity of money entering Gaza, as a form of extortion racket, and this pressure likely led to Israel’s agreement to increase Qatari funding of Gaza’s power station by an additional three million dollars a month.”
He insisted that “Hamas has a firm understanding of the Israeli psyche, with its top leaders, like Yahya Sinwar, having spent many years in Israeli prisons. That’s why in early August, Hamas released an image of the firearm it seized from IDF soldier Hadar Goldin, who was killed in action and whose body is held by the organization as a bargaining chip for a future prisoner swap.”
Yakubovich claimed that Hamas is well-prepared for the post Abbas battle by planning to support the alleged democratic process because Israel will not allow a replication of Gaza in the occupied West Bank, noting that Hamas might have prepared someone to replace Abbas.
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