Question:
What is your opinion of Hamas and the Ezz-ed-Deen Qassam brigades specifically?
Answer:
All of us admire Hamas and the Qassam brigades. However, I believed in the past, and believe now, that Hamas made a mistake when they sought to become the government. This move severely restricted their ability to continue the resistance.
Hamas, I believe, has failed to fully study the enemy and the system which sustains them. Israel’s viability depends on an intricate network of international components, and the domestic situation within the Zionist entity is ripe for instigating strife and division.
Hamas strategists should look at issues that genuinely worry Zionist planners, chiefly, the demographic issue. They are tremendously anxious about the shortage of Jews interested in immigration.
The system for recruiting immigrants needs to be targeted, and ethnic differences between Jews in Israel should be exploited to exacerbate underlying animosities.
The Qassam brigades, in my opinion should focus less on developing weapons capabilities (it is unrealistic that they can compete in this area with Israeli technology), and they should concentrate more on infiltration inside the borders of the Zionist occupation to carry out both overt and covert actions to spread fear and insecurity among the Israelis; preferably targeting those ethnic immigrant communities which would be more likely to abandon Israel and flee back to their homelands.
Traditional military engagement with Israel will not succeed, but creative tactics based on careful analysis of the social and economic situation in Israel can potentially exploit existing vulnerabilities and circumvent Israel’s military strength.