Blood Libel #22 | “Hamas was created by Israel. Or was it the US?”
Anti-Zionist:
You know Hamas was created by Israel to divide the Palestinians, right?
Pro-Zionist:
That’s a wild distortion of history. Can you show me where Israel created Hamas?
(They may cite articles about early Israeli tolerance of Islamist charities.)
Pro-Zionist:
Let’s be clear:
Hamas was founded in 1987 as the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, a group with genocidal antisemitic ideology.
In the 1980s, Israel allowed Islamist charities to operate because they were seen as a counterweight to the PLO, not realizing they would evolve into a terror army.
That’s not creation. That’s a strategic miscalculation — and it was corrected swiftly once Hamas’s violent goals became clear.
Hamas now runs Gaza and has written in its charter the desire to kill every Jew — not every Israeli, every Jew.
So blaming Israel for Hamas is like blaming America for Al-Qaeda because it once gave weapons to Afghan fighters.
BEYOND THE TALKING POINTS
Who really empowered Hamas?
It is not accurate to say that Israel or the United States created Hamas, but both countries made miscalculations that contributed—at different times and in different ways—to its rise. These strategic errors, however, must be understood in context and not confused with intent or sponsorship.
1980s: Israel’s Strategic Misjudgment
Hamas emerged out of Palestine’s branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, officially forming in 1987 during the First Intifada.
At the time, Israel was locked in a violent conflict with the PLO, which had carried out terror attacks and rejected Israel’s existence.
Islamist charities and social networks linked to the Muslim Brotherhood were allowed to operate more freely in Gaza, as Israel saw them as a nonviolent counterbalance to the PLO.
Key context:
These early groups built clinics, schools, and mosques, not paramilitary wings.
Once Hamas began launching violent attacks and unveiled its genocidal charter (1988), Israel moved decisively against it—arresting its founders like Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and banning its activities.
Bottom line: Israel did not create Hamas. It tolerated certain Islamist institutions in the 1980s under flawed assumptions—but did not fund, arm, or establish Hamas’s ideology or leadership.
2006: The U.S. Push for Palestinian Elections
After Yasser Arafat’s death in 2004, the Bush administration made “democracy promotion” a pillar of its Middle East policy—believing open elections would marginalize extremists and empower moderates.
Condoleezza Rice and other Bush officials strongly encouraged Mahmoud Abbas to hold legislative elections in 2006, even as Hamas—a U.S.-designated terrorist organization—was poised to compete.
Despite Israeli and internal Palestinian warnings, the U.S. did not push to exclude Hamas or delay the vote.
Election Outcome:
Hamas won 76 of 132 seats, beating Fatah, largely due to voter frustration with Fatah’s corruption and ineffectiveness.
Many analysts now view this as a massive policy blunder:
“We’ve got to come to grips with the fact that we encouraged the elections, and then we didn’t like the outcome.” — Condoleezza Rice, 2008
Aftermath: U.S. and Israeli Policies Deepen the Divide
When Hamas refused to recognize Israel or renounce violence, the U.S., Israel, and EU cut aid and began arming and training Fatah forces to counter Hamas.
The situation escalated into a civil war:
In 2007, Hamas launched a bloody coup in Gaza, expelling Fatah and taking full control of the territory.
The U.S. was later revealed to have secretly backed a Fatah-led effort to retake Gaza, which failed and backfired.
Today: Hamas Rules Gaza—Not Because It Was Created, But Because It Was Allowed
Hamas now controls Gaza with an iron fist, uses UN schools for weapons storage, and has received billions in support from Iran and Qatar.
Its 2006 electoral legitimacy has long expired. There have been no elections in Gaza since.
It uses humanitarian aid to build tunnels and rockets while holding its own people hostage to its genocidal ideology.
Saying “Israel created Hamas” or “the U.S. created Hamas” is a conspiratorial half-truth.
Yes, both countries made misjudgments—Israel in underestimating the ideological threat, and the U.S. in naively promoting democracy without safeguards.
But Hamas’s ideology, weapons, and war crimes are its own. Blaming others is a way of absolving Hamas of its genocidal aims, and denying the agency of the Palestinian leadership who empowered them.