Hamas did a good job and made it difficult for Arab countries not to condemn Israel

A report in the New York Times stated that the Islamic Resistance Movement “Hamas” claim that it is defending Jerusalem made it difficult for Arab countries not to condemn Israel, but this condemnation remained only within the framework of the rhetoric.

He added that the Arab world is united in condemning the Israeli air strikes on Gaza and the way in which the Israeli police invaded Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Governments have spoken, protests have erupted, social media has erupted. Read also Solidarity with Jerusalem .. Campaigns on the Arab platforms calling for a boycott of the Emirates Normalization and ignoring the historical right After normalization, Israel is seeking military alliances with its new friends

The report stated that the Arab condemnations in general are only rhetoric, at least so far. The region’s concerns have changed since the last major Israeli incursion into Gaza in 2014, with new concerns about Iranian influence, new concern about popular unrest in Arab countries, and a growing recognition of Israel’s reality in the Arab world.

Even that printed

The report stated that even those countries that normalized relations with Israel last year, such as the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco, some of them openly criticized Israeli policies and called for support for the Palestinians and the defense of Jerusalem, because the escalation of violence constituted great pressure on them, and they were arguing that their close relationship with Israel It will help curb Israeli measures targeting Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The newspaper quoted a researcher in Middle East politics at the Carnegie Endowment in Washington H. Hillier said that she had not seen any Arab country that did not express its support for the Palestinians at the rhetorical level, and it would be difficult for them to say anything other than that, “but what they do is completely different.”

She noted that the Egyptian government, which regards Hamas as a branch of the banned Muslim Brotherhood and a threat to the region, has remained wary of public sentiment.

Al-Azhar and the cowardice of Arab leaders

The newspaper quoted Ophir Winter, a specialist in Egyptian affairs and the Arab world at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, to say that the Friday sermon at the Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo, one of the most influential Arab religious institutions, was unusually critical of the cowardice of Arab leaders in defending Jerusalem. The sermon must be approved by the government.

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Analysts believe, according to the report, that the confrontation for the Arab countries that recently recognized Israel constitutes an embarrassment and dilemma as they are testing their impact on Israel.

Fear of more radical players

The report notes that the Egyptian government is concerned, as is the case for many in Israel, that destroying Hamas may open the door to more radical players in Gaza.

He said that Egypt and Jordan, which have long had diplomatic relations with Israel, are deeply involved in trying to de-escalate the conflict, but they should also beware of public anger, which will only intensify if Israel launches a large-scale ground war against Hamas in Gaza.

The report indicated that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi sent security officials to try to mediate between Israel and Hamas, but it did not say much about the current events. As for his Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, he told his Arab colleagues in an emergency meeting of the League of Arab States that the way the Arabs intend officially and publicly to follow up on what is happening in Jerusalem is the greatest message confirming that Palestine was and will always be the central Arab issue.

Hamas struck a chord

Khaled al-Jundi, director of the Palestine Program at the Middle East Institute, said that Hamas’s loud message that it is shooting at Israel in defense of Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque struck a chord, adding that Gaza is something, but Jerusalem is important to the Arab League and its clear stakeholders, especially the guardians of the holy sites in Islam.

Human rights attorney and visiting fellow at Carnegie, Zaha Hassan, said that the violent Israeli police raids of the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the holiest night of Ramadan in one of Islam’s holiest sites forced the UAE and Bahrain to verbally condemn them.

This time, Winter said the conflict is not only about Gaza, but about Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa, and Muslims are committed to defending them, adding that Hamas has done a good job in its messaging strategy, and Arab countries must deal with that.