Israeli Analyst Calls Kushner’s Meeting with Hamas Leader ‘More Painful Than 2,000 Deaths’

According to the International Desk of Webangah News Agency, Nir Kaypeniss, a writer for the Israeli website Walla, stated that the meeting between U.S. envoy Jared Kushner and Khalil al-Hayya, head of Hamas’s political bureau, was more painful for Tel Aviv than the deaths of 2,000 Israelis. Kaypeniss noted that the moment Kushner and his associates met with Hamas leaders with the deference typically accorded to heads of state, it represented a defeat for Israel. Al-Hayya is now receiving a level of respect from a representative of the U.S. president.

Kaypeniss further elaborated that a failed assassination attempt on al-Hayya on Qatari soil led to an embarrassing apology from Tel Aviv for violating Qatar’s sovereignty. This incident also granted al-Hayya immunity from future assassination attempts. Consequently, Kushner’s meeting with him is considered an insult to all Israelis and should be a cause for concern.

The Israeli writer criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with Jared Kushner shortly after Kushner’s encounter with Khalil al-Hayya. He posed a hypothetical scenario: what would the reaction be if Naftali Bennett or Yair Lapid had engaged in such a meeting? Many would have deemed it an affront to those killed on October 7th, arguing that Tel Aviv had become a subordinate to the U.S. by meeting with someone who, during the encounter with al-Hayya, had legitimized the October 7th operation.

Kaypeniss asserted that Israel’s sovereignty had “sold its honor to the United States” through this meeting. He concluded that the meeting between Kushner and al-Hayya signifies that Hamas has learned to communicate with the West more effectively than Israelis. The writer expressed shame that Kushner met with the Hamas leader before meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister, characterizing the entire affair as a complete failure for Israel.