JERUSALEM (JTA) — Hamas accused Jared Kushner of becoming a “spokesman for the Israeli Occupation” after President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and adviser co-wrote a highly critical op-ed condemning the terror organization for prolonging the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Kushner and Greenblatt are adopting the Israeli narrative, and their aggression against Hamas points to the contempt of the American government,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri was quoted as saying by the Israeli daily Haaretz.
In a joint op-ed in The Washington Post, Kushner, White House Middle East adviser Jason Greenblatt and U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman described Hamas’ control of the Gaza Strip as a “nightmare” that was “needlessly prolonging the suffering of the Palestinian people.”
“The Palestinians of Gaza are stuck in a vicious cycle where corrupt and hateful leadership has provoked conflicts leading to reduced opportunities and the poverty and hopelessness that follow,” they wrote.
Citing Gaza’s 49 percent unemployment rate and noting that more than half of Gazans were stuck below the poverty line, Kushner, Greenblatt and Friedman accused Hamas of diverting infrastructure investments to pay for weapons.
“Even the projects that are built are often destroyed as a consequence of Hamas’s aggression,” they wrote. “At the expense of the Palestinian people, Hamas is fighting a morally bankrupt, decades-old war that has long been lost.”
Greenblatt expanded on this theme on Twitter, posting a tweet in Arabic blaming Hamas for spending money on “terrorism” instead of wastewater treatment or electricity.
“If Gaza lived in peace with its neighbors it could be a tourist destination like Sharm el-Sheikh and Tel Aviv,” the tweet read.
https://twitter.com/jdgreenblatt45/status/1020082177252515841
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