'Israel must defeat Hamas' Arab leaders told Blinken days after 7 Oct: Report
A new book by journalist Bob Woodward claims to reveal details of meetings between the US Secretary of State and Arab rulers
US investigative journalist Bob Woodward has published a new book claiming that after 7 October, various Arab rulers asked the US to destroy Hamas citing its historical ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
In his new book, War, Woodward claims to provide details of the meetings of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held with several Arab rulers shortly after 7 October, as Israel’s war against Hamas and genocide of Palestinians in Gaza was getting underway.
In the book, Woodward claims that when Blinken met with Jordanian King Abdullah II in Amman on 13 October 2023, the king told him, “We told Israel not to do this, we told them not to trust Hamas, Hamas is the Muslim Brotherhood, Israel must defeat Hamas. We will not say this publicly, but we support the defeat of Hamas.”
Woodward claims that when Blinken visited the UAE on 14 October 2023 and met with Mohammed bin Zayed, the emir told him, “Hamas must be eliminated. We have repeatedly warned Israel that Hamas is the Muslim Brotherhood. We can give Israel time to eliminate Hamas, but first, it must help us calm our citizens from the images of violence and destruction in Gaza by bringing in aid, establishing safe zones, and controlling the violence of the settlers in the West Bank. Let it help us with our citizens, and we will give it the space to eliminate Hamas.”
The book says that when Blinken visited Saudi Arabia on 14 October 2023, Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud told him, “Israel should not have trusted Hamas, and Netanyahu warned us against that repeatedly, because Hamas is the Muslim Brotherhood.”
The Saudi foreign minister continued, saying, “The terrorist groups are not only trying to eliminate Israel, but they also want to overthrow other Arab leaders. We are concerned about what the Israeli operation will do to all of our security, and what comes after Hamas may be worse.”
Bin Farhan added, “We will not pay a single dollar to rebuild Gaza after the chaos that Netanyahu created.”
The next day, Blinken met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who allegedly told him, “I want the problems caused by October 7 to disappear. A Palestinian state must be established before normalization with Israel. I do not want that, but I need it to justify normalization. I want to return to Vision 2030 by normalizing with Israel. Gaza must be calm first for us to normalize with Israel.”
Blinken’s next visit before returning to Israel was in Cairo, where he met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
Sisi then asked the US delegation to leave so he could meet with Blinken alone. Sisi then allegedly told Blinken that he “only wants to maintain peace with Israel.”
Egyptian Intelligence Chief Abbas Kamel then provided the US delegation with important information about the depth and extent of the tunnels under Gaza. He explained to them that Hamas is entrenched in Gaza and that it will be difficult to eliminate it. “Israel must not enter Gaza all at once but rather do so in stages. It must allow Hamas leaders to emerge from the tunnels before cutting off their heads all at once.”
Woodward also writes that Senator Lindsey Graham and Netanyahu “had scheduled a quiet negotiation between Netanyahu and a Saudi ambassador in Tel Aviv in November 2023 [the month after the Hamas attack on Israel]. It would be a historic moment.”
Regarding his sources, Woodward writes, “All interviews for this book were conducted under the journalist ground rule of ‘deep background.’ This means that all the information could be used, but I would not say who provided it.”
Woodward became a reporter in the 1970s following his work with US naval intelligence. At that time, hundreds of US reporters worked hand-in-glove with the CIA, and dozens were employed by the agency. Woodward is a former Naval intelligence officer and Washington Postreporter known for reporting the Watergate scandal that deposed US President Richard Nixon in the 1970s.
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