The hypocrites are the ones who keep our brains running and always sharp, otherwise we'd become naive simpletons, they act like a no-man's-land buffer zone valve between the believers and the rejecters.
Allah describes them as neither of these - nor of those.
Al-Mujadila 58:14
أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى ٱلَّذِينَ تَوَلَّوْا۟ قَوْمًا غَضِبَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَيْهِم مَّا هُم مِّنكُمْ وَلَا مِنْهُمْ وَيَحْلِفُونَ عَلَى ٱلْكَذِبِ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ
Turnest thou not thy attention to those who turn (in friendship) to such as have the Wrath of Allah upon them? They are neither of you nor of them, and they swear to falsehood knowingly.
Their falshood and untrustworthy deeds are easier to despise than those of the rejecters and therefore keep the believers shored up.
It's always intellectually stimulating when there are a few hypocrites playing the laws and increasing people's understanding of the difference between legalese and true faith.