Is Conflict With Israel Good For Business?
A provocative opinion piece, appearing on Ynet.com on Oct. 28, suggests that Hamas initiates destructive rounds of violence with Israel in order to compel international donors to provide money. In effect, these occasional escalations are Hamas’s way of telling the international community to pay up or else.
The author, Adam Reuter, observes,
Several years ago, Hamas “discovered” what nations used to do in ancient times and in the Middle Ages and what the mafia in the US does in the modern era: Making a living through threats and demanding protection money.
The author does not offer enough evidence or detail to convincingly make his case that Hamas’s decisions to provoke Israel into destructive responses are driven by financial calculations as opposed to ideological zeal or political calculations. However, by raising the issue, one can hope that a curious journalist looking for an interesting angle might uncover more information to support this conjecture.
In light of revelations about the privileged lives of Hamas leaders, Reuter’s theory is not far-fetched.
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