(BESA Center for Strategic Studies-Bar-Ilan University) Lt. Col. (res.) Dr. Mordechai Kedar - When the "Islamic Resistance Movement" (Hamas) took over Gaza in 2007, pundits theorized that once the group became responsible for drinking water, gasoline, electricity, employment, and food, it would have no choice but to become more moderate. But no Islamic terror organization abandons terror without being seen as abandoning Islam as well. As a religious movement, Hamas must adhere to the principle that forbids any deviation from the path dictated by Allah. If Gaza Muslims suffer, that is considered one of the tests Allah presents to believers in order to determine whether or not they deserve a passport to Paradise. The religious conceptual framework prevents Hamas from doing anything that might be interpreted as giving in to the Jews. Over the 1,400 years since the dawn of Islamic history, there have been Muslim regimes that treated strangers with respect, refrained from attacking countries more powerful than they, and cared about the economic conditions of their subjects. Hamas is light years away from this type of rule. It takes step after step to create a picture of suffering and want in order to squeeze donations from the international community. Because the Arab world has turned its back on Hamas, the organization is close to bankruptcy, a crisis that explains its new, warm relationship with Iran. The ayatollahs see Hamas as the long arm of the Iranian octopus extended towards southern Israel, in combination with Huzbullah in the north. The writer, a senior research associate at the BESA Center, served for 25 years in IDF military intelligence.
2018-03-29 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive