In-depth
Israel is having a worrisome summer, writes Elliott Abrams in the Weekly Standard, given the rise of Egypt’s Islamists, worsening instability in Syria and Iran’s ongoing nuclear aspirations.
Pessimism is rife in Israel. One day of Egyptian Army attacks on jihadists will change nothing, and few believe a persistent campaign to retake control of Sinai is about to begin. And even the good news about army activity in Sinai can contain bad news for Israel. There is already a call from Cairo to lift or at least modify the restrictions in the Egypt-Israel peace treaty on how many soldiers and what kinds of armaments Egypt can place in Sinai.
Back in 1948, Israel was also told to wait
Dan Margalit of Israel Hayom draws a line between opposition to Israel’s declaration of Independence in 1948, and a strike on Iran in 2012.
In May 1948, the United States was chilly in its support of the establishment of the State of Israel and applied pressure on Ben-Gurion to agree to a United Nations trusteeship. Because then, just like now, “there was time.” The respected general, Secretary of State George Marshall, sent Moshe Sharett to Israel to convince Ben-Gurion that the Arabs would throw the Jews into the sea. Marshall could not imagine coming to the aid of the people who had just escaped from the Holocaust.
The Egyptian president has declared war on jihadists in the Sinai, but no one really knows what is happening there, writes Mohamed Fadel Fahmhy in Foreign Policy.
[I]f it’s clear that the “Ramadan massacre,” as it has become known in Egypt, gave Morsy the political space to outmaneuver the generals, what exactly is happening in the Sinai remains something of a mystery. Who was behind the Aug. 5 attack—and who has borne the brunt of the military’s subsequent incursion—are still open questions.
Daily Digest
Times of Israel: Morsi reportedly mulls amending peace treaty with Israel
Haaretz: Lengthy Iran conflict likely to cost Israeli economy billions of shekels
Jerusalem Post: Kadima MK Dichter to quit Knesset to become Home Front Defense Minister
Ynet: US: There is still time for diplomacy with Iran
New York Times: Adelson Frontman in China Under Scrutiny
Washington Post: In Syria, it is past time for the United States to act
Wall Street Journal: Syria’s Russian Connection
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.