Hamas' claim of responsibility for Ariel attack appears political, not factual

Yesterday, Hamas' Al Qassam Brigades took responsibility for the terrorist murder of security officer Vyacheslav Golev, in Ariel.

They claimed that the two men captured for the murder were Hamas mujahadeen.

This is the first time Hamas has claimed responsibility for a terror attack in quite a while.

The claim is dubious. If it was true, they would have claimed responsibility immediately, not waiting a few days.

During those two days, Hamas essentially took over the Eid al Fitr celebrations on the Temple Mount, turning them into pro-terror rallies and unfurling a huge Hamas banner showing a militant with a surface-to-air missile.

Meanwhile, Hamas leader Yahya al-Sinwar made a speech where he said threatened a war against Israel and Jews worldwide if Israel does pretty much anything he doesn't like. 

Like the other terror groups, Hamas has praised the recent terror attacks that killed several Israelis. What appears to be happening now is that Hamas wants to take advantage of those attacks = which the Palestinian Arabs overwhelmingly support - by appearing to be the driving force behind them.

Hamas is painting Mahmoud Abbas as weak and out of touch. The groups has been pointing out that he was nowhere to be seen during Eid al Fitr celebrations, and didn't even appear at the ceremony to lay a wreath on the grave of Yasir Arafat in Ramallah.

When the first intifada broke out, it was not driven by the PLO but by individual Palestinians. The PLO, then in Tunisia, managed to wrest control back and sideline the ringleaders. The current terror wave is similarly decentralized, driven by a steady diet of incitement and direct calls to violence in Palestinian media, as well as frustration with Israeli political gains in the Arab world that have been sidelining the Palestinian cause.

Hamas senses an opportunity to take charge. They want to say that their leadership is what is behind the terrorism, that the Palestinian Authority has failed to bring any tangible results to Palestinians, and that only murdering Jews will gain Palestinians the honor they crave. 

By taking responsibility for the Ariel attack, Hamas is positioning itself to be seen as the real leader of all Palestinians. It also hopes to attract recruits in the West Bank where it has not been too successful up until now, to make this claim of responsibility into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The Palestinian Authority has no tools to combat this battle for the hearts and minds of Palestinians. There is no "peace camp" that advocates compromise with Israel and the benefits it would bring. There are only two war camps - the Fatah one that advocates political warfare while praising (and paying for) past terror attacks, and the Hamas one that openly praises and advocates terrorism. Palestinian media is filled with incitement and has absolutely no content that calls for real peace or even against terrorism. 

In such an environment, Hamas and Islamic Jihad control the message and look like strong leaders.

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