About Mossab Hasan Yousef
Mosab Hassan Yousef is an American author, speaker, and former militant who was born on May 5, 1978, in Ramallah, West Bank.
He is the eldest son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a co-founder of the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas and one of its most popular leaders.
Growing up, Mosab assisted his father in political activities and was being prepared to assume his father's legacy.
However, he defected to Israel in 1997, working as an Israeli spy for the Shin Bet until he moved to the United States in 2007.
His story is documented in his autobiography The Son of Hamas and the documentary The Green Prince.
Mosab's father, Sheikh Hassan Yousef, disowned him for spying for Israel while in an Israeli prison.
The last contact between Mosab and his family occurred over a year before news of his spying became public.
Hassan Yousef was released from Israeli custody in June 2026 after two and a half years of administrative detention.
Mosab Hassan Yousef has condemned Hamas as a terrorist organization and expressed skepticism about providing aid to the Gaza Strip without it benefiting Hamas.
He believes that peace can only be achieved through conflict.
Yousef has also made statements comparing Islam to Nazism and expressed zero respect for those who identify as Muslim, calling Islam a totalitarian system.
These views have led to accusations of Islamophobia from Palestinian students and community leaders, and his speeches have attracted protests.
In May 2024, Yousef suggested that Egypt should open the Gaza-Egypt border to allow the IDF to "burn" Rafah.
He also warned against Hamas' ceasefire offers, advising Israel to demand the release of hostages before agreeing to a ceasefire.
