But wasn't it the Likud party that created Hamas as a counter to the Yassir Arafat PLO.

The relationship between the Likud party, the creation of Hamas, and the PLO is complex and often misunderstood. Hamas was founded in 1987 during the First Intifada as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, primarily in response to the Israeli occupation and the PLO's actions. While it's true that some Israeli officials in the 1980s, including those in the Likud party, recognized the potential of Islamist groups like Hamas as a counterbalance to the secular nationalist PLO led by Yasser Arafat, this does not equate to a direct creation of Hamas by the Likud party. Israeli authorities initially viewed the rise of Islamist movements as a way to weaken the PLO's influence, and they sometimes allowed these groups to operate more freely as part of a divide-and-conquer strategy. However, the emergence of Hamas was largely driven by local Palestinian dynamics, religious sentiments, and the socio-political context of the time. In summary, while there were strategic considerations by some Israeli officials, particularly in the Likud party, regarding the rise of Hamas in relation to the PLO, Hamas was not directly created by Israel or the Likud party. The circumstances of its founding were rooted in Palestinian society and its own ideological framework.