Israel benefits from Hamas' decline
Hamas finds itself in one of its lowest points ever, abandoned by Cairo, Tehran and Damascus and forced to keep a quiet border with Israel.
Despite the relative quiet, Israel keeps a very watchful eye on Hamas. The security assessments in Israel place Hamas at one of its most serious nadir points. High-ranking Israeli security officials quote what Hamas militants are saying in closed forums: “We have moved from growth to survival mode.” Hamas focuses squarely on surviving and holding on to power. It desperately attempts to improve the economy, urgently seeking new diplomatic, logistical and military support because all its other crutches — Egypt, Syria and Iran — snapped almost simultaneously.
Earlier this week, a senior and seasoned Israeli security official analyzed Hamas’ situation, describing it in almost historical terms. “Until recently, Hamas spoke with pathos and conviction about achieving the goal 'in our time,'” he observed, “but ever since Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi was ousted and the Muslim Brotherhood was banished from power in Egypt, this has become a whole new ball game. Almost overnight, the momentum has switched into defeat, the euphoria dissipated and replaced by concern verging on panic.”
Several months ago, an Israeli security official talked with a senior Hamas militant jailed in Israel. The militant, the official recounted, spoke about the goal that would be imminently achieved. People will see that “Islam is the solution” and that the Muslim Brotherhood will take over the Middle East. The incarcerated Hamas militant drew his encouragement from the Muslim Brotherhood's taking over in Egypt — the largest and most powerful Arab state — and that it also reigned in Turkey. Syria is undergoing a radical Islamic rebellion, and the Islamic noose is getting increasingly tighter around the last bastions of resistance in the Middle East. Hamas has a strong grip on the Gaza Strip while Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) continues to lose both his grip and his popularity in the West Bank. Life seemed good and more promising than it had ever been.
Shortly thereafter, Morsi was toppled and the Muslim Brotherhood was booted out of power in Egypt. Just like that, in one stroke, the momentum came to a screeching halt.
