Former Hamas Activist Says He Received Death Threats After Israeli Interview

Iehab Omar, a Palestinian from Bethlehem who once belonged to Hamas and later renounced it, says he has been flooded with death threats, insults and abuse since his story was published last week by Kikar HaShabbat. In a follow-up interview, he said relatives and Hamas members now see him as a traitor. “I am terrified,” he said, adding that family members told him they could not protect his home from anyone who comes to burn it. “They do not see me as a son, they see me as an infidel. For them, the blood of traitors is permitted.”

Omar used the interview to issue a stark warning about what he sees as Israeli naivety about the threat from Islamist ideology. He argued that Arab Muslims inside Israel are “more dangerous” than Hamas members in Gaza, as well as Muslims in the West Bank and Arab states, because they live inside the country and some support jihadist ideas. He said Israel is mistaken to think terrorism can be defeated only with F-16s.

According to Omar, “Hamas is only the military show.” The deeper problem, he said, is belief, thought, culture and education. “The military problem can be solved with a missile, but culture and education cannot,” he said, warning that as long as children are taught in schools that Muhammad was hostile to Jews, “October 7 will return once, twice and three times.”

The article also says German authorities are reportedly requiring Omar to obtain a Palestinian passport and go to a Palestinian Authority mission in Berlin, a step the piece says could endanger his life. Omar says he wants protection, not charity, and insists he is a loyal Israeli citizen. The piece closes by urging Israeli decision-makers to act quickly before he is killed.