
Hamas is branded a terrorist group by Western powers, and its recent rocket campaign against Israel reminded the world of its ability to wreak havoc. But efforts to isolate the radical Palestinian movement withered with an Arab Spring that has empowered its parent organization, the Muslim Brotherhood. Hamas leader Khaled Meshal deftly pivoted away from long-time backers Iran and Syria to take advantage of the region’s shifting tides, courting diplomatic support from Egypt’s new Muslim Brotherhood-led government, along with Turkey and Qatar. That, combined with the paralysis of a peace process his movement has rejected, has restored Hamas’ centrality in the Israeli-Palestinian equation.