Closed Dossier: The Jihadist Continuum

Why Hamas, ISIS, Hezbollah, and “moderates” belong in the same system

Western policy keeps treating Hamas, ISIS, Hezbollah, the PA, and the Houthis as separate problems with separate peace processes, separate euphemisms, separate excuses — and keeps repeating the same analytical failures regardless of which group is in the news. They aren't separate. They share an ideological core and a remembered conquest that was never repudiated, and the only real disputes amongst them are managerial — tempo, branding, who gets to declare the war. This dossier maps the system underneath the violence, because you cannot fight an enemy you refuse to read and win.

The beheading video and the policy platform sit on the same continuum.

The Israel Brief is the Mitzpe Institute's read on Israel and the region — most mornings, Sunday through Thursday. More at mitzpe.org.