Chris Van Hollen: “I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a New York Times article from December of last year entitled…”

“I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a New York Times article from December of last year entitled ``'Buying Quiet': Inside the Israeli plan that propped up Hamas.'' The sub headline is ``Prime Minister Netanyahu gambled that a strong Hamas (but not too strong) would keep the peace and reduce pressure for a Palestinian state.'' There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: [From New York Times, Dec. 10, 2023] `Buying Quiet': Inside the Israeli Plan That Propped Up Hamas (By Mark Mazzetti and Ronen Bergman) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gambled that a strong Hamas (but not too strong) would keep the peace and reduce pressure for a Palestinian state. Just weeks before Hamas launched the deadly Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, the head of Mossad arrived in Doha, Qatar, for a meeting with Qatari officials. For years, the Qatari government had been sending millions of dollars a month into the Gaza Strip--money that helped prop up the Hamas government there. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel not only tolerated those payments, he had encouraged them. During his meetings in September with the Qatari officials, according to several people familiar with the secret discussions, the Mossad chief, David Barnea, was asked a question that had not been on the agenda: Did Israel want the payments to continue? Mr. Netanyahu's government had recently decided to continue the policy, so Mr. Barnea said yes.…”