Mosab Hassan Yousef

Early life and family Mosab Hassan Yousef was born in Ramallah, in the West Bank. His father, Sheikh Hassan Yousef, is a Hamas co-founder who spent many years in Israeli prisons as a result of his militant activities. His grandfather was an imam. He is the oldest of five brothers and three sisters; in 2019, one of his brothers, Suheib Yousef, also left Hamas.

He has described his upbringing as traditional, noting that he initially supported Hamas's political stance before his later break with the group's methods. In an interview, Yousef stated he was raped when he was approximately 5-6 years old, and he did not speak up about it due to fear of an honor killing; he also stated that having to heal on his own from the rape was "a hell of a journey". Growing up, Yousef has said he wanted to be a "fighter" because that was expected of Palestinian children in the West Bank. Yousef was first arrested by the IDF when he was ten, during the First Intifada, for throwing rocks at Israeli soldiers and/or settlers.

Espionage career Beginning with his release from prison in 1997, Yousef was considered the Shin Bet's most reliable source in the Hamas leadership, earning himself the nickname "The Green Prince" – using the color of the Islamist group's flag, and "prince" because of his pedigree as the son of one of the movement's founders. The intelligence he supplied to Israel led to the exposure of many Hamas cells, as well as the prevention of dozens of suicide bombings and assassination attempts on Jews. He has said that he did not inform for money, but rather that his motivations were ideological and religious, and that he only wanted to save lives.

Yousef says he supplied intelligence only on the condition that the "targets" would not be killed, but arrested. This led to the detention of several key Palestinian leaders, including Ibrahim Hamid, a Hamas commander in the West Bank, and Marwan Barghouti. Yousef also claims to have thwarted a 2001 plot to assassinate Shimon Peres, then foreign minister and later President of Israel. According to his former Shin Bet officer, "Many people owe him their lives and don't even know it." The Haaretz report on Yousef was described by Hamas MP Mushir al-Masri as "psychological war being waged against the Palestinian people... [it] did not deserve a response".

Conversion to Christianity and loss of faith Yousef met a British missionary in 1999 who introduced him to Christianity.

Political asylum in the United States For a time, Yousef was threatened with deportation from the U.S., after his request for political asylum was denied, since statements in his book about working for Hamas were interpreted as "providing material support to a U.S.-designated terrorist organization", despite Yousef's explanation that they were "intended to undermine the group". His case then proceeded to the deportation stage, despite Yousef's advocates' warning that he would likely be executed by the Palestinian Authority if deported to the West Bank.

On 24 June 2010, Shin Bet handler Gonen Ben Itzhak, who for 10 years worked with Yousef under the cryptonym "Loai", revealed his own identity in order to testify on behalf of Yousef at an immigration hearing in San Diego. Ben Itzhak described Yousef as a "true friend", and said, "he risked his life every day in order to prevent violence". Partially as a result of this, Immigration Court Judge Richard J. Bartolomei Jr. ruled on 30 June 2010 that Yousef would be allowed to remain in the United States after being fingerprinted and passing a routine background check. On 23 October 2023, Yousef stated that he holds United States citizenship while speaking to American journalist Jake Tapper in a televised interview.

Views on Islam and Muslims In 2016, Yousef said Islam as a whole is comparable to Nazism, and must be defeated. He has stated: "I have zero respect for any individual who identifies as a Muslim."

Amidst the Gaza war following the October 7 attacks of Israelis by Palestinians, Yousef said the cause of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict was not primarily driven by the occupation of the West Bank since 2000, or an argument over the distribution of land among peoples, but the "Islamic, religious identity" of Hamas, about which he said "you cannot weaponize your Islamic, religious identity against a religious minority and expect to get away with it. I have to call them out."

In March 2024, Indiana University Hillel invited Yousef to speak, provoking a backlash from student groups who accused Yousef of Islamophobia.

In May 2024, Yousef spoke at UCSD, where he said that Egypt should open up the Gaza-Egypt border so that the IDF could "burn" the city of Rafah. At the event, Yousef said he never advocated for killing Muslims. The speech was protested by students who accused Mosab Hassan Yousef of Islamophobia.

Yousef admits that his views on Islam have caused him issues:

According to Shoebat, Yousef has promoted Palestinian liberation theology– which is anti-Israel– on Al-Arabiya and the Arabic show Daring Question. He wore a keffiyeh during his interview with Daring Question, and on Al-Arabiya he stated "we will have our victory against Israel" and that "Israel is the problem and as an occupation it needs to end".

Autobiography and documentaries Yousef's co-authored autobiography, Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices, written with the assistance of Ron Brackin, was published in March 2010. Son of Hamas was on The New York Times Best Seller list for two weeks in March 2010.

Yousef collaborated with US-based actor and film producer Sam Feuer in the production of two films: a feature film adaptation of Yousef's book Son of Hamas and documentary The Green Prince, and a historical depiction of the life of the Muslim prophet Muhammad based on the accounts of eighth-century historian Ibn Ishaq. A documentary adaptation of Son of Hamas titled The Green Prince, directed and written by Nadav Schirman, premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award for World Cinema: Documentary. The Green Prince will be re-made into a live-action feature film.

Published works