Billboards showing a photoshopped image of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh sporting a green bikini bottom and a lei were put up at three heavily-trafficked locations in Tel Aviv on Monday morning.
The billboards feature a Hebrew translation of the Arabic phrase “Thanks Israel, I love you – Ismail.”
The provocative campaign is the brainchild of a movement called the Israeli Victory Project, which aspires to put an end to Hamas aggression. Organizers say that the campaign was inspired by a recent visit to Iran by Hamas’ military wing and receipt of hundreds of millions of dollars, which organizers say will go “to Hamas’ next war on Israel.”
The IVP says the campaign is designed to send political leaders the message that Israel “must move from a policy of conciliation and ineffectiveness [against Hamas] to a policy of victory.” The movement is calling on Israeli leaders to use military, economic, and diplomatic means to force Hamas to accept Israel’s terms, rather than “making concessions and conciliating both terrorist organizations and those who support them, and to international pressure.”
“The conflict with the Palestinians and their supporters will only end when they admit their defeat and the failure of their violent resistance. Without a victory by Israel, there will be no end to the conflict,” the IVP says.
According to the Israeli Victory Project, the Haniyeh “bikini shoot” is the first of a series of events and activities it plans to put on over the next several weeks, until the Sept. 17 election.
The Israel Victory Project is a social movement that operates under the auspices of the Middle East Forum, an apolitical organization whose members include bereaved families; residents of southern Israel, IDF reservists, and disabled IDF veterans.