The Israeli newspaper “Haaretz” published an article by former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid in which he said that the best way to destroy the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and save lives is to attack its financial sources and stop the flow of money to it.
He considered that what he did – when he was Minister of Finance 10 years ago – to “impede Hezbollah’s revenues” has become “more true now with regard to Hamas,” and said, “Anyone who wants to eliminate this organization must act against its sources of revenues.. A large portion of its money lies in banks…or in the cryptocurrency market, and it is on hand.”
Yair Lapid expressed his claim that this organization cannot buy weapons, train, build tunnels, pay salaries, and finance its attacks without a regular cash flow.
He called on Israel to form an international coalition with the aim of taking “measures against the sources of income of terrorist organizations. This money is a driving force for terrorism, and we must and can stop it,” he claimed.
According to a document published by the US Treasury Department after last October 7, Hamas’s annual revenues are estimated at between $2.5 billion and $3 billion, according to Lapid, adding, “This is an exaggerated amount, but senior Hamas officials who live outside the Gaza Strip… They are registered billionaires,” he claims.
He said – according to the newspaper – that during the period during which he and Naftali Bennett headed the government, cash flows coming to Gaza from a number of countries and organizations were stopped, while not much has been done at the present time – according to his opinion – to harm Hamas economically, nor has pressure been exerted. “The Americans must forcefully implement the weapon of sanctions.”
He claimed that “companies affiliated with the Hamas investment network, which have been subjected to sanctions for some time, are traded on the stock market.” Hamas’ bank accounts, he claimed, are still active.
He added, “We did not use our cyber capabilities and did not mobilize the economic power of the Israeli business world. Of course, Israel must put an end to the transfer of funds from the Palestinian Authority to Hamas in the Gaza Strip.”
He continued, “Currently, none of this is happening. There is no coordinator responsible for this issue, and there is no member of the Cabinet assigned to this task,” calling on Israel to establish a tough and effective financial task force to address this issue.
“We need to collect data, starting with the methods of transferring money to Hamas, and ending with the global support network it enjoys, which is stifling its financial sources,” Lapid said.
He considered that such a step would harm Hamas more than most military operations taking place now, and at a much lower cost in blood, as he put it.
