I have covered this topic before, but I never expected to see such a long and detailed investigative report in the Wall Street Journal. Read it and weep.
A look at Israel’s decades-long dealings with Palestinian radicals — including some little-known attempts to cooperate with the Islamists — reveals a catalog of unintended and often perilous consequences. Time and again, Israel’s efforts to find a pliant Palestinian partner that is both credible with Palestinians and willing to eschew violence, have backfired. Would-be partners have turned into foes or lost the support of their people.
Israel’s experience echoes that of the U.S., which, during the Cold War, looked to Islamists as a useful ally against communism. Anti-Soviet forces backed by America after Moscow’s 1979 invasion of Afghanistan later mutated into al Qaeda.
I often see Israeli military and intelligence leaders quoted in US media as “experts on terror.” Considering the results of their actions, which they repeat over and over and over without ever seeming to learn anything, I would classify them as fools rather than experts.
Tags: Hamas, Israeli Army