U.S. intelligence agencies underestimated Hamas threat by ending surveillance of group - WSJ
Americans were confident that Israeli intelligence would not miss the threat
U.S. intelligence agencies virtually stopped monitoring Hamas and other Palestinian groups in the years after the September 11 attacks. Instead, they redirected all their efforts to hunting down al-Qaeda leaders and later ISIS.
Source. This was reported by the WSJ with reference to sources.
Believing that Hamas did not pose a direct threat to the United States, Washington shifted its surveillance to Israel. The Americans were confident that Israeli intelligence would not miss the threat.
"I think we have to share the blame with Israel for missing the lead on this event," a former CIA official told the WSJ, "Shifting the responsibility to the Israelis seems to have had consequences.
In early 2023, CIA Director William Burns spoke publicly about rising tensions in the Middle East and the possibility of a new clash between Israel and the Gaza Strip. But the Biden administration was of the opinion that the Middle East was not yet ripe for a new war.
Background. Earlier, the WSJ reported that one of the reasons why Israel was unprepared for a Hamas attack was its focus on "high technology."
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