Al Jazeera<\/em>, Hamas\u2019s bogus \u201cministries,\u201d and an international press too willing to repeat Hamas figures without scrutiny.<\/p>\nFor Hamas supporters and apologists, Abu Obeida was an icon. For Israel and the Jewish people, he was a symbol of the propaganda war that has poisoned world opinion. His elimination is a blow not only to Hamas\u2019s military command but also to its global disinformation campaign.<\/p>\n
At the same time, the United States sent a powerful signal of its own: Mahmoud Abbas will not be allowed into the U.S. to attend the U.N. General Assembly or Emmanuel Macron\u2019s side meeting pushing for recognition of a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n
It is not the first time Washington has barred a Palestinian leader. Yasser Arafat was once denied entry, only to deliver his infamous 1974 Geneva speech, pistol in one hand and olive branch in the other. But the symbolism here is critical.<\/p>\n
Abbas, who only in June reluctantly muttered a word of criticism about Hamas\u2019s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, continues to fund terror through stipends to convicted attackers and the glorification of \u201cmartyrs.\u201d He opposed the Abraham Accords with all his might. And though Hamas has eclipsed him in brutality, Abbas still hopes to secure statehood as a reward for decades of incitement.<\/p>\n
Washington is right to draw a line. Terrorism cannot be rewarded with recognition. Abbas\u2019s presence on the world stage, under U.N. applause, would hand legitimacy to the very ideology Israel is fighting to eradicate.<\/p>\n
Israel now faces critical hours: hostage negotiations, renewed military operations in Gaza and delicate contacts with Arab states that could shape the region\u2019s future. The propaganda war will continue\u2014anti-Israel campaigns, automatic U.N. majorities, European recognition of \u201cPalestine\u201d as a state. But Israel is proving it will not only fight rockets and tunnels\u2014it will also dismantle the lies that sustain them.<\/p>\n
By killing Hamas\u2019s propaganda chief and by supporting U.S. moves to hold Abbas accountable, Israel and its allies are reminding the world: the age of rewarding terror must end.<\/p>\n
As the roulette wheel of Middle Eastern politics continues to spin, the stakes are clear. There can be no peace built on propaganda, incitement and blood money.
\n
\nFiamma Nirenstein, Ph.D, is an Italian-Israeli journalist, author and senior research fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. An adviser on antisemitism to Israel\u2019s Foreign Minister, she served in the Italian Parliament (2008\u20132013) as Vice President of the Foreign Affairs Committee.<\/em><\/p>\n
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