Wasatiyyah and Hamas’s Modulating Positions on the Two-State Solution and Israel: Finding the Middle Path

May 12, 2026

Inclusion-moderation theory argues that incorporating antisystem movements into political institutions can moderate their behaviour. Yet scholarship often overlooks how such movements adjust after entering institutional politics and how they justify behavioural change to diverse constituencies. Integrating the Islamic principle of wasatiyyah with inclusion-moderation, this study uses Hamas as a case to examine adaptations following its 2006 election. Under rapid political deterioration, Hamas adopted a bulwark strategy that strengthened resistance credentials, enabling ideological flexibility, incrementalism, and calibrated compromise regarding the two-state solution and recognition of Israel.

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May 12, 2026