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Hamas Casts Its Lot with Iran
(Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies-Bar-Ilan University) Prof. Hillel Frisch - World Jerusalem Day, held this year on June 7, was created by Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979. Each year, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic and Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah address the Islamic world to champion the Palestinian cause and denigrate Israel, while Sunni Arab leaders, including in the PA, ignore World Jerusalem Day. This year, Sunni Hamas joined in to commemorate the event, a decision that reflects its weakness. Wooing Iran will also have a negative effect on Hamas' relations with Egypt, Gaza's gateway to the Arab world and beyond. Egyptian President Sisi is aware that in the 10th century, Persian ayatollahs employed subversion to establish a Shiite dynasty that ruled Egypt for 200 years, and that Iran is intent on trying to repeat that historical event. The writer is a professor of political and Middle East studies at Bar-Ilan University and a senior research associate at its BESA Center.