A Palestinian suicide bomber detonated himself inside a busy restaurant in central Tel Aviv last Monday, in the deadliest terrorist attack since 2004. Despite a high level of alert in Israel for the Jewish holiday, Passover, the bomber succeeded in thwarting Israeli security forces by attacking a location that had been previously targeted on Jan. 19. Unsurprisingly, the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority praised the attack that the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization took credit for.

Waiting for months to see what tricks the Palestinian Authority had up its sleeve, the world has seen – quite frankly, predictably – that the Hamas-led government was unwilling to reform and own up to their responsibilities. “Given the opportunity, the first opportunity to denounce an act of terror, to condemn an act of terror, Hamas has decided to condone it,” Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs and State Dept. spokesman Sean McCormack said.

So, why is it that, amidst internal and external conflict with the Palestinian Authority, the Hamas-led government has supported and welcomed such crimes against humanity? Why does this terrorist entity – which has been given control of an aspiring government – support and invoke such acts and incite hatred among their people? The answer is not a secret. It is because their hatred is what obstructs prospects of peace and democracy in the region. It is because their support for holy war heavily outweighs the opposition to democracy and peace. Above all, it is because they would rather see Israeli women and children die than commit to working together for peace. Israel is therefore forced to act alone, with its national security prevailing.

At every opportunity, Hamas continues to call for the destruction of Israel and continuously applauds such incidents, which further derails its relationship with the international community. Although they have not openly owned up to the attack, Hamas should be held accountable for every such episode from now on, merely because it does nothing to stop them and continues to call for such acts of violence. Any support for terrorism should be condemned, especially those which come from a governing party. Let us not forget that since the beginning of this year, Israeli forces have thwarted hundreds of suicide bombers. Just because they were not successful does not mean that condemnation should not be heard.

Hamas’ support for the attack on innocent people has proven its true nature, and shown to the world that Hamas has no other intention but the destruction of Israel. Therefore, Israel should not feel compelled to fund a terrorist government – one who outright calls for the destruction of their existence and demands land under the fa