FLASHBACK: George Soros slammed US and Israel for refusing to work with Hamas

A recently unearthed article reveals that billionaire Democrat megadonor George Soros previously slammed the United States for its backing of Israel and its refusal to acknowledge Hamas after the extremist group gained control of the Gaza Strip.

In a 2007 opinion piece in the Financial Times, Soros rebuked the Bush administration's unwavering support for Israel, urging the US and Israel to cooperate with Hamas, a terror group that had recently caused the deaths of almost 1000 people in the Gaza region so far.

"Israel, with strong US backing, refused to recognize the democratically elected Hamas government and withheld payment of the millions in taxes collected by the Israelis on its behalf," Soros wrote.

After Hamas secured victory in an election to govern Gaza, Soros passionately argued that the US was wrong to side with Israel in rejecting the authority of the militant group and imposing a blockade around Palestinian territories. Soros referred to the US and Israel's rejection of Hamas as a "blunder."

"If Israel had accepted the results of the election, that might have strengthened the more moderate political wing. Unfortunately, the ideology of the ‘war on terror’ does not permit such subtle distinctions," Soros argued. 

Israeli authorities swiftly condemned Hamas' election in 2006, highlighting the group's objective of using violence to establish a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

Hamas's refusal to acknowledge the existence of Israel was a point that Soros believed Israel shouldn't have stressed so much.

Soros referenced the long-standing conflict in the region and called on Israel to renounce future military actions, urging the US to support this stance.

"Demonstrating military superiority is not sufficient as a policy for dealing with the Palestinian problem. It would be tragic to miss out on that prospect because the Bush administration is mired in the ideology of the war on terror," Soros wrote.

"Hamas is not monolithic. Its inner structure is little known to outsiders but, according to some reports, it has a military wing, largely directed from Damascus and beholden to its Syrian and Iranian sponsors, and a political wing that is more responsive to the needs of the Palestinian population that elected it," Soros argued, appearing to praise Hamas.

The situation culminated in an unparalleled wave of brutality and extreme terror last Saturday, as Hamas conducted an attack on Israel, resulting in the deaths of numerous attendees at a music festival, the destruction of nearby villages close to the Gaza Strip, and over 100 kidnappings. 27 Americans have been killed and another 14 remain unaccounted for.