Palestinian tribal gangs in Gaza fighting against Hamas is in Israel’s interest, former top Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) official Shalom Ben Hanan told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.
He was responding to the controversy about the agency providing weapons to such groups under orders from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Ben Hanan retired in 2022 after 27 years in the agency at the equivalent rank of a major-general in charge of a whole division in comparison to IDF ranks, and was on Netanyahu’s shortlist in the running for the agency’s chief this spring.
“According to reports, the phenomenon of arming Palestinian tribal gangs to harm Hamas is a positive development – this is saving the lives of our soldiers,” in various cases, he said.
In other words, if Gazan Palestinians can fight Hamas and push it out of certain areas, IDF soldiers will not need to do that fighting and will be at lower risk of Hamas guerrilla ambushes in those Gazan sectors.
He noted that foreign reports have reflected on past potential instances where Israel might have assisted tribal gangs in the Sinai to fight off ISIS terrorists as a potential model for what might be going on now in Gaza.
Tribal gangs versus Hamas
Moreover, he stated that the idea of “tribal gangs rising up against Hamas should be of positive interest to Israel,” in its goals and future plans for Gaza.
Responding to Yisrael Beytenu head Avigdor Liberman’s framing of Netanyahu as having sidestepped the cabinet to provide weapons to “Gaza criminals,” Ben Hanan responded, asking rhetorically, “What are ‘criminal’ groups’ in the context of Gaza?”
Essentially, Ben Hanan was arguing that many people who might be considered “criminal” by Hamas might not be criminal at all.
Alternatively, even if some of the Gazan groups receiving weapons from Israel are, in fact, criminals, they still might be preferable as interlocutors in Gaza if they conclude that their local non-ideological and calculated interests are to forge a stable relationship with Israel – as opposed to Hamas, which is religiously and ideologically committed to Israel’s destruction.
The Shin Bet and IDF intelligence did not deny their involvement in providing weapons to the Gaza tribal gangs, but the Shin Bet did not provide a detailed response, and IDF intelligence did not respond.
However, the Post was told by top defense sources, even in early 2024, that there were certain efforts to recruit Gaza tribal gangs to fight against or counter Hamas on both the military and political fronts.
It is likely that the Shin Bet originated the idea based on requests from Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant to try to find a way to circumvent Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, and given that the agency has the most long-term experts on Gazan groups.
For a period of weeks, there were hopes in early 2024 that such tribal gangs, unaffiliated with Hamas or the PA, could be alternative rulers of Gaza to both of those groups “the day after” the war would end.
Meanwhile, although there is a history for external spy services like the Mossad and CIA arming foreign groups, the Mossad does not and did not have any security responsibility for Gaza, so it would not be involved in this arming tribal Gaza gangs issue.
Also, late Thursday, sources close to Netanyahu himself proudly admitted his involvement in the issue, signaling they thought Liberman’s attack was off-base.
Further, some leaks suggested that the weapons given by Israel to these gangs were not Israeli weapons, but Hamas weapons that Israel had confiscated.
These leaks would try to defend against accusations of Israel “funding” these Gazan tribal gangs, since, if true, giving them only Hamas weapons that were confiscated does not implicate Israeli funds.
In the broader narrative, Liberman is likely laying the ground for his biggest attacks on Netanyahu whenever the next election comes out: Netanyahu paid Qatar to pay Hamas to keep them “deterred,” is now paying directly or indirectly for the Palestinians food aid, and provided weapons to dangerous Palestinian gangs in Gaza who will likely at some later point turn their weapons on Israel.