Netanyahu selitti asiaa jälkikäteen noin, mutta entinen pääministeri Olmert taas sanoi että Bibi teki sen osana boostata Hamasia ja heikentää PA:ta. Samasta lähteestä:
In an interview with Israeli journalist,
Dan Margalit in December 2012, Netanyahu told Margalit that it was important to keep Hamas strong, as a counterweight to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. Netanyahu also added that having two strong rivals, this would lessen pressure on him to negotiate towards a Palestinian state.
In an interview with
Politico in 2023, former Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert said that "In the last 15 years, Israel did everything to downgrade the Palestinian Authority and to boost Hamas." He continued saying "Gaza was on the brink of collapse because they had no resources, they had no money, and the PA refused to give Hamas any money. Bibi saved them. Bibi made a deal with Qatar and they started to move millions and millions of dollars to Gaza." At a
Likud party conference in 2019, Benjamin Netanyahu said:
Prime Minister Netanyahu responded to the accusations of funding and strengthening Hamas by calling them "ridiculous".
Gershon Hacohen, former commander of the
7th Armored Brigade and an associate of Benjamin Netanyahu, said in 2019 in an interview:
Bezalel Smotrich, a
far-right lawmaker and finance minister under Netanyahu Government, called the Palestinian Authority a "burden" and Hamas an "asset".