Brotherhood Factor: Israeli Army Acknowledges Difficulty in Destroying Hamas

Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari notably acknowledged that the goal of eliminating the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) is "impossible." Even more striking was his explanation, attributing the difficulty to the movement's underlying ideology, which is rooted in the principles of the Muslim Brotherhood.

In a series of statements during interviews with Hebrew channels on June 19, 2024, Hagari said, "Hamas is an idea, and those who believe it can disappear [as an idea] are mistaken; they [Hamas] are the Muslim Brotherhood."

"Hamas is a political party, it is the Muslim Brotherhood, and it has been a group present in the region for years and planted in the hearts of people."

“You cannot destroy an idea; at the political level [Netanyahu's government], they must find an alternative to that, or else it will remain," he added.

Therefore, the political leadership's statements about destroying Hamas were seen as nothing more than an attempt to "throw dust in the eyes of Israelis," he said, because they are "Brothers."

This led Haaretz to publish an article on June 19 exposing the empty promises that "Israel" would be able to destroy Hamas and return Lebanon to the Stone Age.

3 Messages

Hagari's statements carried three political messages more than military ones.

Firstly, he implicitly warned Israelis not to believe Netanyahu's illusion of swiftly uprooting Hamas, calling it mere dust in their eyes.

Secondly, he cautioned Netanyahu that the army wouldn't substitute for him in the futile mission of destroying Hamas.

Thirdly, he acknowledged Hamas's enduring ideological roots in the Muslim Brotherhood's ideology, which has previously prevailed against Israeli efforts and enjoys support from five Western nations, ensuring its resilience.

Israeli researchers view the Muslim Brotherhood as a threat to their state, advocating for a secular Islamic political party that eschews Sharia law while remaining friendly to “Israel.”

Hagari's remarks appeared to be both an Israeli military and political assessment of Hamas's deep ideological foundation as a movement aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood, which predates “Israel” by 96 years.

Further, his statements served as a critique of Netanyahu and his allies in Arab normalization, highlighting their decades-long failure to remove the Brotherhood and Hamas from the hearts of their peoples.

Palestinian journalist Adham Abu Selmiya commented on Hagari's linking of Hamas's resilience and its adherence to the Muslim Brotherhood's ideology, stating, "Hagari wanted to convey that Hamas's age and depth of Brotherhood affiliation surpasses that of this short-lived entity."

He added that the Israeli army spokesperson's message carried a subtle yet clear message to Netanyahu, mesmerized by normalization, and to his Arab allies, covertly and overtly, stating, “You have failed for decades to uproot the Brotherhood and Hamas from the hearts of your people.”

The statements made by the Israeli army spokesperson were neither new nor surprising, as the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood is deeply ingrained in Hamas and the Palestinian people, who fight “Israel” with a firm conviction that mere weapons and Western support for the Israeli Occupation are insufficient to deter.

This sentiment was echoed by numerous political analysts who asserted that "without the religious doctrine and faith instilled in the soldiers of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Gaza would not have withstood the Israeli and Western war machine for so many months."

This "Zionist fear" of the Muslim Brotherhood was highlighted by Major General Jamal Hammad in his testimony on Al-Jazeera's "Without Borders" program.

He confirmed that "during the 1948 war, Jews were afraid of the positions where Muslim Brotherhood volunteers fought alongside the Egyptian army because they were ideologically driven."

Hammad stated that the Jews feared the Brotherhood more than the Arab soldiers because the Brotherhood fighters—like Hamas now—were "seekers of martyrdom," unlike the others, with some even wearing shrouds as they attacked Jews, seeking martyrdom.

Before Hagari acknowledged Hamas's strength and resilience, attributing it to the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, and implicitly accusing Arab normalizers of failing in their campaign against the Brotherhood, Gulf TV channels launched unexpected programs against the Brotherhood.

The Saudi-backed al-Arabiya channel, in sync with Hamas's resilience in Gaza, launched an attack on the Muslim Brotherhood through three programs aimed at discrediting the group's ideology, featuring guests discussing "revisions" of the Brotherhood's thought.

The first program was "Hour of Dialogue," the second was "Revisions," presenting supposed revisions and testimonies from within the organization, and the third was "Revisions with Diaa Rashwan," hosted by the current Chairman of the State Information Service.

Human rights activist Haytham Abokhalil linked these programs to Hagari's statements, suggesting that these three programs were “not coincidental, but rather a directive serving the enemy and undermining the resistance.”

On November 17, 2023, Kenneth Roth, the former executive director of Human Rights Watch, stated that “Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is particularly sympathetic to Israeli attempts to crush Hamas because he himself has used terrible violence against the Muslim Brotherhood.”

Roth, currently a visiting professor at Princeton University, told Germany's Deutsche Welle TV (DW) that “Sisi committed a massacre in 2013 that killed 817 protesters in Cairo's Rabaa Square, so he supports Israeli massacres against Hamas.”

In January 2024, a CNN anchor embarrassed Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan by stating that some believe “the Saudi government has no love for Hamas, You have always regarded it as part of the Muslim Brotherhood kind of an organization [..] so you are not too unhappy that the Israelis are crushing Hamas, you just wish it would do it a little bit quicker and faster.”

Ideology and Belief

Despite the clear statements by the spokesperson of the Israeli army about the difficulty of eliminating Hamas because it is an idea and a political party rooted in the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was founded in 1928 and has resisted eradication attempts for decades, reports and international media linked his statements to rumors of conflicts between the Israeli army and the Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

The swift response from Netanyahu's office to Hagari's comments was seen as evidence of this conflict and struggle.

In response to Hagari’s statements, Netanyahu’s office issued a statement saying that the War Cabinet has determined that one of the objectives of the war is to destroy Hamas's military and governmental capabilities, and the army is, of course, committed to this goal.

In reply, the army issued a statement emphasizing that it is committed to achieving the war objectives as defined by the War Cabinet, working day and night throughout the war, and will continue to do so.

However, the army’s statement noted that its spokesperson spoke clearly and frankly about the destruction of Hamas as an ideology and idea, referring to the conflict Hagari mentioned in his interviews with Hebrew channels, including Channel 13.

This wasn’t just an unprecedented public spat despite previous disagreements; it appeared more like an official military rebellion against a struggling government, according to Hebrew newspapers.

Hagari implicitly accused Netanyahu of lacking future plans, thereby entangling the army in a long, aimless war, and criticized Netanyahu's government for not promoting the establishment of an alternative authoritative entity to Hamas in Gaza.

He said that talking about destroying Hamas is like throwing dust in the public’s eyes, and if the government does not come up with something else (an alternative), “Israel” will ultimately get Hamas, meaning it will continue to rule Gaza, and Netanyahu's goals will remain unachieved.

Palestine Chronicle noted on June 19 that the Israeli army had always been frustrated with Netanyahu, even before the aggression on Gaza, but since October 7, 2023, the conflict between the military and political institutions had reached new heights.

It highlighted the inconsistency and contradictions in Hagari’s recent statements about the systematic destruction of Hamas's military capabilities and Netanyahu's claims of "complete victory."

The newspaper asserted that these contradictions could easily be attributed to the growing conflict between the army and Netanyahu’s political establishment and his far-right ministers in Tel Aviv.

In another unprecedented event indicating this conflict, the Israeli army announced a "tactical pause" in southern Gaza on June 16 without consulting its political leadership, a decision that angered Netanyahu and his allies.

Responding angrily in a cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said, "We have a country with an army, not an army with a country."

A recent public opinion poll in Egypt, conducted by a regional commercial company in November and December 2023 at the request of the Washington Institute, revealed that three-quarters of Egyptians view the resistance positively.

The institute, with its Israeli leanings, stated that this shows the impact of the war between “Israel” and Hamas on Egyptian public opinion.

The Brotherhood School

In early May 2017, Hamas released its new charter, different from the 1988 Charter, amid speculations that the movement would renounce its affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood to avoid the pressures that accompanied the "counter-revolution."

However, the announcement of the new document was an amendment, clarifying points not addressed in the 1988 Charter, with Hamas leaders reaffirming, "We are part of the intellectual school of the Brotherhood."

The new document included 42 articles under 12 axes: the movement's definition, the land of Palestine, the people of Palestine, Islam and Palestine, Jerusalem, refugees, and the right of return.

It also covered the Zionist project, the stance on occupation and political settlement, resistance and liberation, the Palestinian political system, the Arab and Islamic nation, and the humanitarian and international aspect.

According to Al-Estiklal reading of Hamas's document, none of its articles differed significantly from those in the 1988 Charter, except that it did not explicitly mention the Brotherhood.

The 1988 Charter mentioned (Article 1) "the connection of the Islamic Resistance Movement with the Muslim Brotherhood," and in (Article 2) that "the Islamic Resistance Movement is one of the wings of the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine."

However, immediately after the document was issued, former head of Hamas's political bureau, Khaled Meshaal, confirmed that his movement “is part of the intellectual school of the Muslim Brotherhood and does not deny its history or its ideology.”

Sources within the movement told Al-Estiklal that “the relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood, mentioned in the 1988 Charter, was not reiterated because it has not been canceled, is well-known, and does not need to be repeated.” This omission prevents anti-Brotherhood regimes from using it against Hamas.

The movement's founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, stated in July 2003 to a German news agency correspondent in Gaza that Hamas no longer needed to define itself as a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, as stated in the 1988 Charter. He affirmed, "This is already well-known, and its leaders still confirm it," indicating that the lack of mention in the 2017 document does not mean a denial of their relationship with the Brotherhood.

There is a fundamental difference between the "Hamas Charter" of 1988, which includes four sections—introduction to the movement, objectives, strategy, and the movement's stance on certain issues—and the new political document issued on May 1, 2017, titled "Document of General Principles and Policies," which contains 42 articles under 12 sections.

The 1988 Charter was issued to define the principles of a resistance movement fighting both “Israel” and the Palestinian Authority. The 2017 document aimed to outline the general principles and policies of a ruling resistance movement governing Gaza, which does not coordinate with the occupier and has not ceased its resistance and wars against it.

In the new document, the movement does not recognize the Israeli Occupation or its control over the land and asserts that the Palestinian state will be established on all of Palestine. It emphasizes that it is a Palestinian Islamic national liberation and resistance movement, aiming to liberate Palestine and confront the Zionist project, with Islam as its guiding framework in its goals and methods.

The movement defines Palestine's borders from the Jordan River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, from Ras Naqoura in northern historic Palestine to Umm al-Rashrash (Eilat) in southern historic Palestine. It reaffirmed its refusal to give up any part of Palestine, regardless of the reasons, circumstances, and pressures, and no matter how long the occupation lasts, and rejects any alternative to the full liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.