By David L. Phillips*
OXFORD, UK | 8 October 2026 (IDN) — Israel colluded with Hamas for decades, seeing it as a counterweight to Fatah and the Palestinian Authority. Israel’s approach culminated in the terror attack on October 7, 2023 that killed 1,200 Israelis and 252 hostages.
Does Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bear responsibility for the strategic calculation of colluding with Hamas and the subsequent events? Israeli voters will decide when parliamentary elections are held on October 27. The outcome will not only determine Israel’s governing coalition. It will also shape society and the future of Israeli democracy for years to come.
The origins of Israel’s strategy towards Hamas
Israel made the strategic decision to support the Muslim Brotherhood and Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in the 1970s. However, Yassin’s network of Islamic Schools, mosques and clubs morphed into the Islamic Resistance Movement and the al-Qassam brigades. By encouraging conservative Islamic movements as an alternative to the secular PLO, Israeli authorities had te false hope of weakening Fatah’s nationalist appeal.
The US and other states were involved in this arrangement. In the late 2010s and early 2020s, Israeli officials encouraged Qatar to support Hamas. Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani allowed Hamas to establish a liaison office in Doha at the request of the U.S. and Israel. Vast sums were transferred by Qatar to Hamas. In a cable leaked by WikiLeaks in 2010, Amos Yadlin, former general of the Israeli Air Force and then head of Military Intelligence, said “Israel would be happy” if Hamas took over Gaza. In an interview with the Israeli Army Radio in August 2019, Prime Minister Ehud Barak said that Netanyahu’s main strategy is to keep Hamas “alive and kicking” in order to weaken the Palestinian Authority.
A succession of Israeli leaders bought into the strategy. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said, “In the last 15 years, Israel did everything to downgrade the Palestinian Authority and to boost Hamas”, adding that “Gaza was on the brink of collapse because they had no resources, they had no money, and the PA refused to give Hamas any money. Bibi saved them. Bibi made a deal with Qatar to move millions and millions of dollars to Gaza.”
Qatar, Hamas and the politics of division
Qatar started sending money to the Gaza Strip on a monthly basis in cash filled suitcases in 2017. $15 million was initially transported into Gaza by the Qataris via Israeli territory when the PA cut salaries in Gaza. Hamas said the money was intended for both medical services and governmental salaries. In August 2018, Israel’s government approved the agreement.[iv]
Former Shin Bet Director Ami Ayalon outlined Israel’s policy regarding Gaza and the Palestinian Authority. “We did something very simple. We did everything in order to make sure that Hamas will go on controlling Gaza and Palestinian Authority will control the West Bank, so they will fight each other. With the permission of our prime minister, we let Qatar to transfer a huge amount of money in cash, probably more than 1.4 billion dollars (to Hamas).”
According to a March 2019 report by The Jerusalem Post, Netanyahu defended his decision to permit financial transfers into Gaza during a private Likud faction meeting. The policy was part of a broader strategy to divide Palestinian factions. He believed that bolstering Hamas would impede the establishment of a Palestinian state.
In September 2023, David Barnea, the Director of Mossad, went to Qatar to meet Qatari officials to discuss payments for Hamas. Characterizing the policy as a deliberate, security-backed strategy, Netanyahu maintained, “We held serious discussions, I think we’re acting in a responsible and wise way. At this time, this is the right step.” Netanyahu described his approach toward Gaza as a deliberate effort to block Palestinian statehood.
Former Israeli Ambassador to the EU and Germany Avi Primor explicitly acknowledged Israel’s role stating, “It was the Israeli government, it was us who created Hamas, in order to create a counterweight to Fatah at the time.” He further explained that Israeli leadership originally anticipated “it would be a religious organization that would quarrel with Fatah” rather than the militant movement, concluding that “we couldn’t foresee what would become of it, but it’s our creation, these are the facts.”
The road to October 7
In return, Hamas floated the idea of a long-term truce (hudna). Yahya Sinwar, head of Hamas, claimed that Hamas was open to a secession of hostilities if Israel allowed Qatari aid into Gaza to pay for local administration, civil servants and support needy families (including payments to martyrs of the intifada).[vi] According to Olmert, “The fact is that Netanyahu…many years before the October 7th, released more than a thousand Hamas murderers, on top of them Yahya Al Sinwar, who turned out to become, afterwards, the leader of Hamas, and the commander of the operation on 7th of October.”
Qatar was not the only international partner of Hamas. With Netanyahu’s knowledge, Turkey also transferred funds into Hamas accounts. Most damning, however, is the recent report in Haaretz of a phone call in September 2023 between Netanyahu and the UAE’s Sheik Mohaned Bib Zayed in which Netanyahu was warned of an imminent attack by Hamas in Gaza. Bibi met his security cabinet in October but did not mention the call. He was focused on the Abraham Accords and normalizing relations with the UAE. Bibi wanted to keep the situation in Gaza clam so he could focus on Iran and Hezbollah which he considered a greater threat.
October 7 left a searing wound on the Israeli people. It reminded Israelis of their vulnerability despite vows of “Never Again” after the Nazi Holocaust. The attack on Gaza was a major security failure that Israel’s leaders used to justify the destruction of Gaza and the killing of up to 75,000 Palestinians.
Repairing the world: A choice for Israelis and Palestinians
I have firsthand experience with Jewish values rooted in my faith, family and commitment to justice. I am a New York Jew committed to “Tikkun Olam” — repairing the world. My Great Grandfather, Moses Phillips, laid the cornerstone of Beth Israel hospital. My grandfather, Seymour, founded the School of Nursing. My father endowed the American Jewish World Service. I carried on this tradition working for the Elie Wiesel Foundation and the Congressional Human Rights Foundation.
Israelis have been cowed by the Hamas’ terror, especially youth who attended the Novas music festival where hundreds were slaughtered and raped. Israeli society is at a crossroad with elections on October 27. Will it be shaped by fear and support Netanyahu’s policy that the Palestinians and many others characterize as genocide? Or will Israel heal its wounds and, in so doing, enable healing for Palestinians as well?
It takes moral courage to overcome fear and the desire for revenge. Repairing the world is a choice. It requires empathy with others, especially adversaries. Unlike Hamas, not all Palestinians are terrorists. The way to drain the swamp of extremism is through basic services like education and health care that uplift the Palestinian community and fosters cooperation with Israelis. Breaking the cycle of violence between Jews and Palestinians requires a willful decision from both sides.
*David L. Phillips is an Academic Visitor at Oxford University. (IDN-InDepthNews)