Veteran Arab affairs correspondent Ehud Ya’ari explains that he believes Hamas is going to do its best to maintain the ceasefire, not because the terror organization is genuinely concerned with halting warfare with Israel, but because it is heavily dependent on Egypt.
Egypt is heavily dependent on US funding, compelling Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi to act as he has to pressure Hamas. Like Hamas, Morsi does not share the same feelings towards Israel as his predecessor Hosni Mubarak, with the new Egyptian leader remaining loyal to the Muslim Brotherhood. Nevertheless, this is a case of pragmatism and the Egyptian leader realizes his nation is on the verge of collapse and failure to obtain funding from the US, will lead to fiscal collapse. This is compelling Cairo to play ball and work with the plan towards pushing Hamas to the ceasefire.
Speaking to the press following the Cairo press conference between Morsi and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom stated “we must maintain a zero tolerance for any violations”, detailing we mustn’t act as governments in the past, excusing rocket fire by explaining it was another terror organization and not the ruling Hamas affiliated terrorists. “We dare not explain it away this time around”.
Shalom explains if this will be the policy of Israel, then the ceasefire can work and Israel will have avoided a ground forces incursion which would have been costly in many ways.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is expected to address the nation at 20:30 IL.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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3 Responses
1. Hamas isn’t suicidal. They send suicide bombers. They don’t actually want to get themselves killed.
2. Hamas can’t get anywhere unless Egypt is cooperative. Egypt is very vulnerable to Israeli pressure (remember, one bomb hits a certain dam and Egypt gets a flood that makes Sandy look like a spring shower). Egypt also needs American and European financial support to survive. By putting Hamas into a position where they have to do what the Egyptians tell them, Israel effectively puts a lid on Hamas.
3. A bigger war would be very expensive in blood and treasure. If Israel can get 90% of what it wants without massive costs, it’s a good deal.
4. The uncertainty over America’s economy is a problem for Israel. Therefore getting a good deal now is in Israel’s interests. IF America is in big trouble financially (fiscal cliff and all that), even the most pro-zionist president can’t offer meaningful assistance.
Hamas will use the lull to restock vital supplies for the citizens, namely more rockets missles, etc, as this is what the nation wants from its elected leaders. If parents praise and raise their children to be suicide bombers and murderers, they obviously don’t care about long term survival, health, nutrition, etc, remember that the 9/11 terrorist bought one way tickets
It’s now 4:40 pm EST. Based on the content of this article and newer articles that are printed above, it’s nice to see that one can see a piece of ancient history on YWN itself, as this article is.