They are wrong at the root: the United States has decided to outlaw the former parent platform of Hamas

The American authorities intend to recognize the Muslim Brotherhood (an organization recognized as terrorist in Russia and banned) as terrorists. If this can be done, then public structures in the United States that criticize Israel against the background of the war in the Gaza Strip may be sanctioned. This initiative of the White House was actively supported by the Israeli authorities. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.

Blacklisted

The United States is going to soon add the international Islamist movement Muslim Brotherhood (banned in Russia) to the national list of foreign terrorist organizations, said US President Donald Trump.

"This will be done in the harshest and most decisive terms," the head of state noted, adding that the final documents are under preparation.

During Trump's first term, his administration also considered adding the Muslim Brotherhood to the terrorist list.

But after the bill was presented in Congress, it caused a heated discussion, because some NGOs and, in particular, USAID had close ties with many branches of the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe that were not directly affiliated with them. However, their assets and leadership, one way or another, represented the Muslim Brotherhood, Vasily Ostanin-Golovnya, a researcher at the Department of the Near and Post-Soviet East of the INION RAS, told Izvestia.

"The American administration previously studied the possibility of adding specific branches of the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan to the sanctions lists, but postponed this decision for several reasons," the political scientist explained.

According to him, firstly, it could lead to a scandal with the items of expenses of the now defunct USAID. Secondly, it could upset the balance in relations with regional partners.

— Now something has changed in the domestic policy of the States, and first of all, it is the liquidation of USAID. In addition, this is once again an open pro-Israeli position of the Trump administration, and in this context it is important to note just the nuances of American—Israeli relations, the expert believes.

Danila Krylov, a researcher at the Department of the Middle and Post-Soviet East at the INION RAS, in turn, believes that during his first term as president, Trump did not have enough time and political efforts to blacklist the Muslim Brotherhood.

— Now Republicans are actively lobbying for this decision, which is necessary for Trump and the Americans as a whole to combat the many diverse branches of the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as to impose sanctions against individual states that support them. For example, for sponsoring terrorism," the Arabist explained.

Friendship with Hamas

The current bill was submitted to the House of Representatives and the Senate of the US Congress this summer. As the head of the US State Department, Marco Rubio, clarified, this procedure requires a lot of effort, since this organization has many branches in the United States, and each of them must be carefully checked.

The explanatory part to the document notes that the Muslim Brotherhood "poses a threat to the national security of the United States and its Middle Eastern allies."

For a long time, the movement was the root organization for the Hamas group, which positioned itself as a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood on Palestinian soil.

So it is not surprising that the initiative of the American administration was welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Vasily Ostanin-Golovnya stressed that the head of the Israeli government has always supported efforts to isolate various Islamist movements internationally, primarily the Muslim Brotherhood, because they had contacts with Hamas and some radical Islamist and Palestinian factions, "therefore, for Israel it is also a matter of internal security."

The analyst believes that the United States pursues several strategic goals. First, it is strengthening the alliance with those Arab states that share the main approaches to American regional security policy. Secondly, it is the fight against extremism and an attempt to limit the influence of Islamist movements in the region.

— The question arises about the effectiveness of such measures, because in fact, it is extremely ineffective to put pressure on Islamism with sanctions. And the United States is also trying to bring the positions of Israel and Arab countries closer, especially against the background of differences on the Palestinian issue, the expert believes.

In his opinion, the attitude towards the Muslim Brotherhood can be the beginning of a constructive dialogue between them.

— And therefore this step is beautifully rhetorically framed in the framework of the fight against terrorism and Islamist extremism. If we dig deeper, we see specific US interests in the region, and it will also allow us to rein in recalcitrant Turkey, which is a member of NATO, and hint to Qatar and its Al Jazeera that it is not worth so zealously defending the Palestinians, including Hamas and other radical factions," the analyst believes.

To reconcile Israel with the Arab world

Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates have previously banned the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood. Krylov emphasizes that in addition to the key regional allies of the United States, the Muslim Brotherhood is recognized as terrorists in Syria.

"At the same time, there is a Renaissance Party in Tunisia, which is a moderate Islamist party that is part of parliament, and the Muslim Brotherhood is integrated into it," the expert said.

Ostanin-Golovnya believes that the Arab countries' dislike of this organization is largely due not to its anti-state activities, but to the desire to build structures parallel to the state.

After the United States officially recognizes these Muslim Brotherhood terrorists, all companies and individuals dealing with them will be sanctioned.

It was believed that the movement was originally founded "to spread the principles of Islamic morality among the population, as well as for charitable purposes." However, it subsequently became actively involved in politics throughout the region.

The organization began to seek Egypt's complete independence from Britain, and to this was added the desire to completely stop the spread of Western values in society. Despite the statements about the support of democratic principles, the group sought to create a state that would be governed according to the principles of Sharia, its main slogan was: "Islam is the answer."

Throughout its history, the Muslim Brotherhood has gone underground and reappeared. One of the members of the movement, Sayyid Qutb, has developed a new ideology calling for jihad against all "infidel" authorities, including in Muslim countries. These theses strongly influenced the founders and followers of radical Islamist groups: from Islamic Jihad to Al-Qaeda (both recognized as terrorist and banned in the Russian Federation).

In 2011, the party representing the interests of the Muslim Brotherhood won the parliamentary and presidential elections in Egypt a year later. The movement's decline occurred after President Mohammed Morsi was overthrown and thousands of members of the movement were arrested. Hundreds of them were sentenced to death.

Currently, the structure of this organization as a political and religious force seems to be quite complex and ambiguous, Krylov believes.

In his opinion, there is no special connection between Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood right now.

—And this is despite the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood represents a fairly wide and diverse ideological stratum, which can include anything," the expert believes.

The expert noted that in the Middle East, in the case of persecution of any group, it is immediately accused of involvement in the Muslim Brotherhood, and it is immediately outlawed.

— This is an active format of the fight against terrorists that exists in the region. This strategy is used by the UAE, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Perhaps the Americans also want to participate in this process," the orientalist believes.

He is sure that to a greater extent Trump started the current initiative to demonstrate the unity of Americans with their Middle Eastern allies.

"Especially in the context of the agreements signed during the visit of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Washington, against the background of the destabilization of the situation in the Middle East and the need for Americans to look for supports and players through whom they could promote their ideas and narratives," the analyst notes.

However, he does not believe that the blacklisting of the Muslim Brotherhood is directly related to the situation around the Gaza Strip.

"However, this is not the primary reason, the opportunity to put pressure on various groups hostile to Israel that support Hamas, be it the Muslim Brotherhood or others somehow connected with them, is only a side benefit," the political scientist concluded.

The Muslim Brotherhood itself intends to continue its activities, despite any decision by Washington, according to their website.

"We will remain steadfast in what we do in accordance with our moderate and peaceful ideology, and we will continue to do the right thing for genuine and constructive cooperation for the benefit of all communities where we live and for the benefit of all humanity," the organization said in a statement.