In an op-ed that appeared in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, former U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley argues that the “technocratic” Palestinian unity government is “a transparent trick meant to keep the dollars coming.”
In Time for U.S. to Stop Funding Terrorists, Berkley, a Democrat, outlines the dangers that the joint Fatah-Hamas government poses.
Hamas is also, it is important to note, a vital component of Iran’s ongoing war against the United States and the West. Although it started as an offshoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas quickly came under Tehran’s wing and became the Palestinian version of Lebanon’s Hezbollah: The two groups were the first of the major jihadist terror outfits, funded and trained by the Iranians to intimidate the West by butchering our children. …
Hamas has made clear that it will not give up its military capabilities under the new government. Instead, it will follow what one Hamas source described as the “Hezbollah model,” retaining its whole arsenal as well as its fighting force — with the implicit aim of eventually achieving political dominance over the entire Palestinian Authority. Today Hamas has at least 10,000 rockets, mostly supplied by Iran, aimed at Israeli population centers. In addition, the organization’s domestic weapons production capacity is growing rapidly in both scope and sophistication. Hamas has close to 20,000 active fighters.
Should this happen in the West Bank, Berkley writes, “The new Palestinian government will similarly be a cover for Hamas terror, unable to govern effectively or take responsibility for the territories it controls.”
Given that the United State is prohibited by law from giving aid to a government over which “Hamas exercises undue influence,” Berkley calls on the Obama administration to stop funding the Palestinian Authority “[u]ntil the Palestinian Authority proves it is able to govern effectively and moves to disarm all terror groups in their territory, including Hamas.”
Many in the media, as well as bipartisan majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, have questioned the administration’s determination to continued funding the joint Fatah-Hamas government.
Shelley Berkley is a member of the board of The Israel Project, which publishes The Tower.
[Photo: Michele Jenkins / YouTube ]