Perhaps no one in the world knows more about Hamas and its terrorist operations than Mosab Hassan Yousef. After all, he was once part of them.
As the son of a Hamas co-founder, 46-year-old Yousef defected to Israel in the late 1990s where he worked for Shin Bet, Israel’s security agency. He was one of several advocates for Israel who took the stage at the Jerusalem Post’s Annual Conference in New York, held at the Park Hall in Midtown on Monday.
For Yousef (nicknamed the Green Prince), defeating Hamas is essential to peace, and the time had come for Israel and its allies to be brutally honest about the threat facing the free world.
“It is the time to move from defense to offense,” he said. “To call things for what they are.”
During a discussion with Dan Diker, president of the Jerusalem Center for Foreign Affairs, in front of a crowd of hundreds, he said the “ideological dimension of the war can not be ignored.” He also discussed Hamas’ surprising ability to turn parts of the world against Israel so quickly after Oct. 7.
Hundreds of millions ‘spreading propaganda’
Yousef was born in Ramallah, a city just north of Jerusalem. His father is Sheik Hassan Yousef, known as a co-founder of Hamas. As the eldest boy in the family, Yousef was groomed at a young age to become part of Hamas, even helping his father with various political activities.
Both father and son did time in Israeli prisons, which is where the younger Yousef “saw the light,” so to speak, about the dangers of Hamas. Today, he is a Christian who lives in the United States.
As brutal as Hamas is, Yousef is shocked at how much the terror regime has been able to turn parts of the world against Israel.
“We have hundreds of millions spreading propaganda,” he said. “And as you see, when people see it thousands of times a day, they start believing it. It becomes real.”
Yousef was perhaps referring to social media – including TikTok – that many have accused of spreading false information about Israel since the start of the war.
Meanwhile, as countless pro- and anti-Israel reels flood social media feeds, protests against Israel continue to flood New York City. Most recently, a violent pro-Palestinian protest at the Brooklyn Museum on Friday resulted in six arrests for assault and trespassing, according to Reuters.
And on May 7, protestors clashed with police during a “Day of Rage for Gaza” near Hunter College on the Upper East Side.
It was about 15 years ago, Yousef told the crowd, that he began questioning literal interpretations of Islamic scripture which fundamentalists have used to justify violence against Israelis and Jews.
“The Jewish people are a very peaceful nation that does not look to harm the Muslims,” he said. “We have the right — you have the right — to question and say ‘what is going on here?’”
To Yousef, Palestine is not the issue. He called it a “device” that Hamas and affiliated terrorists use as a weapon to wage war against Israel.
Protestors infiltrate the conference
During the day-long pro-Israel conference, approximately six protestors disrupted the event to verbally assail U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx).
“I just want to tell the next disrupter, I am a Zionist,” Torres said. “I always have been and always will be. No amount of harassment or bullying will dissuade me from standing up for what is right. I will always stand up for the U.S.-Israel relationship.”
Outside, protestors gathered in defense of the hostages held in Gaza. They held signs that read messages including, “Deal now, election now.”
“Today, four hostages were declared killed,” one protestor said. “Either by friendly fire or Hamas. There is no absolute victory. We are not going to get anywhere. We need to stop, make a deal, whatever it is, and get the hostages home. They refuse to sign a deal because Netanyahu is a coward. He can not take any step that is controversial.”
