The Growing Voice of the Moderate Arab World Against Hamas (Daled Amos) ~ Elder Of Ziyon

Wednesday, July 09, 2025

The Growing Voice of the Moderate Arab World Against Hamas (Daled Amos)

By Daled Amos

In 2011, during an interview, Bernard Lewis discussed the beginnings of a phenomenon that later blossomed into the Abraham Accords. In response to a question from Dan Diker about the threat of Iran, Professor Lewis responded that Iran's hostility to Israel was a very negative factor, but also a positive factor:

An increasing number of people in the Arab world are coming to the conclusion that their main danger, the main threat to their world is not Israel, but Iran. And that Israel might even be a useful ally in confronting the Iranian danger. I heard this view expressed by people in Egypt and other Arab countries, and that's an encouraging sign. You still have a very limited response, but the fact that it exists at all is quite remarkable...there are more and more people who in private conversation will tell you that they are beginning to see Israel as a positive element in the region, as an example of a smoothly functioning democracy.

Bernard Lewis was proven right when the UAE and Bahrain signed onto the Accords in 2020, followed by Sudan and Morocco. These Arab countries gain strengthened economic ties, enhanced security cooperation, and improved diplomatic relations with Israel and the US. In addition to improved relations with several Arab nations, increased trade, tourism, and diplomatic ties, Israel benefits from enhanced security cooperation and reduced regional tensions.

And then came October 7th, which was intended, in part, to derail the Abraham Accords.

October 7th has been described as the fuse that ignited events leading all the way to the 12-day war between Israel and Iran. But that day may arguably be what raised moderate Arab support for Israel up a notch.

Just one day after the Hamas massacre on October 7th, Haaretz reported, Support for Israel in Arab World No Longer Taboo. The article's subtitle suggested that the attack inspired the beginning of Arab blowback against Hamas in a way that we had not seen before:

Up until Hamas’ surprise invasion, social media in Arab countries justified what they deemed necessary in the fight for Palestinian rights. Dissenting voices are starting to ask what that fight should look like.

Haaretz quotes Arab journalist Jasem Aljuraid. Just a few hours after the attack, he posted on X:

“I am a Kuwaiti and I stand by Israel. Any Kuwaiti who forgets the treachery of the Palestinian leadership is ignorant. My solidarity is with the Palestinian and the Israeli people. We want to uproot Hamas and the PLO.”

Aljuraid continued: “These people have lost the ability to manage the interests of the Palestinians. Poverty is rife there, and their leaders have assets valued in the billions.”

He added

To some degree, the Abraham Accords and the improved Israel-Arab relations have helped pro-Israel advocates in the Arab World make their views heard. Bahraini social activist Shaheen Aljenaid appeared on X on the day of the attack and condemned Hamas in no uncertain terms:

Haaretz also quotes Saudi influencer Amjad Taha, an expert in diplomatic strategy with almost half a million followers. He tweeted in Hebrew: “In the Arab, Muslim, and free world, we support Israel and condemn the Palestinian terror attacks. As you can see in today’s videos, it is a struggle between a civilized nation and barbaric militias.”

Taha addressed Israel directly:

Be strong and respond forcefully. The world has changed, only terrorists stand with these militias. Normalization talks will continue, and other countries will join. These barbarians who are trying to stop it will not succeed.

This response from Arab moderates continued. A year later, in October 2024, MEMRI posted on their website: Arab Media Figures Slam Hamas: It Is The Real Enemy Of The Gazans

Against the backdrop of the ongoing war in Gaza, liberal Arab journalists and media figures have intensified their criticism of Hamas and its leadership on social media. In numerous posts on their personal accounts, they argued that Hamas is a terrorist organization that serves the interests of Iran while taking Gaza back to the Stone Age and bringing a catastrophe and a second Nakba upon the Palestinian people. The writers directed sharp criticism at the movement's leaders, who live in luxury hotels outside Gaza while showing indifference to the suffering of the Gazans and using them as human shields for Hamas' operatives. The writers also expressed outrage at the execution of Israeli hostages in Hamas tunnels and called on Hamas to agree to a prisoner exchange deal in order to end the war. Some of them also called on Arab countries to act against Hamas to put an end to the destruction and the tragedy in Gaza.

Among those quoted are Saudi influencer Abdullah Al‑Tawilaʽi and Palestinian journalist Ayman Khaled.

Even Qatar's Al Jazeera took notice of the condemnation of Hamas coming from the Arab Gulf states, though they made sure to quote Arab condemnations of Israel as well, reporting The Arab position on the aggression on the Gaza Strip... a new low:

[T]he UAE did not hide its anger at Hamas's behavior. Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem Al Hashimy declared to the Security Council on November 24, 2023, in language completely uncommon in Arab literature, that Hamas's attacks on October 7 were "barbaric and heinous." She demanded the immediate release of the "hostages," and described Hamas' actions as "crimes." [translation by Google Translate]

Al Jazeera quotes American diplomat and author Dennis Ross as having spoken with Arab leaders after October 7. Those Arab leaders told him that Hamas in Gaza needed to be destroyed, and warned that if Hamas appeared victorious, it would legitimize their radical ideology.

In the context of the growing condemnations of Hamas in the media, the Haaretz article concludes on a hopeful note:

The condemnations heard in the Arab world suggest that the taboo around the nature of the Palestinian struggle has been cracked. From now on, Arab countries may take part in setting new rules for the conflict, according to which not all forms of resistance are permitted and desired.

This was on October 8, 2023.

Last week, the podcast Our Middle East touched on the issue of Arab media reporting on the growing anger in Gaza against Hamas and whether the Arab media itself was sufficiently vocal in calling for regime change in Gaza. The host of the podcast, Dan Diker, asked Arab journalist Khaled Abu Toameh for his thoughts. Abu Toameh replied:

I do hear many voices, Dan, on social media, on Arab TV networks, that do call for regime change, that are critical of Hamas, but I agree with you. They are not loud enough, they are not wide enough. These are limited voices here and there. And I think the reason is because many Arabs are afraid of being portrayed as being Zionists on the payroll of the Jewish Lobby, or Zionist Arabs, or of being--you know--anti-Palestinian. And you know, where most of the criticism comes from; it comes from Westerners.

If an Arab criticizes Hamas, you have all these Western people criticizing this Arab, calling him a Zionist, a traitor, a collaborator with Israel. I mean, that's the irony--that the attacks come from Westerners, people at university campuses in the US, in Canada, even in Australia. And we haven't even talked about the voices from Europe.

So there are voices. They're not enough, they're not being amplified, and I think this is the role that people like us should play, by bringing this to the attention of the Arab world, of other people. But I do hear these voices that are demanding regime change in Gaza.

Israel's success against Hezbollah, Syria, and Iran may have helped to re-energize the moderates in the Arab world against Hamas. Having the outspoken Donald Trump as the president of the US certainly has not hurt either. That makes the next few weeks and the focus on a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas all the more crucial in giving that voice of the Arab world a needed push.