This week, Egypt apparently facilitated the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Gaza. With the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in February 2011 and the subsequent vitriolic hatred tacitly endorsed by the new Egyptian regime, the question arises as to why Egypt would intercede to put a temporary end to the hostilities. An Egyptian parliamentary committee report has already described Israel as Egypt’s number one enemy and declares Egypt will never be a friend, partner or ally of Israel. The Egyptian pipeline supplying gas to Israel has been blown up over a dozen times in the last year. The Israeli ambassador had to be evacuated in September of 2011 when the Israeli Embassy was stormed by the citizenry.
The significant difference between hostilities between Israel and Gaza now and in the past is the implementation of Israel’s Iron Dome defense. Many rockets that heretofore had flown unscathed into Israel are now intercepted and destroyed before they can inflict damage and cause casualties. As Dore Gold, the former Israeli ambassador to the United States, stated:
The most important question is how would the Iron Dome affect the decisions of Hamas leaders and their Iranian supporters? While Hamas rockets are aimed primarily to target civilians and terrorize the Israeli home front, a secondary and just important aim is to hit strategic sites in the future. Eliminating the ability to hit strategic targets may lead Hamas to rethink the efficiency of acquiring the rockets it has used in the past.
Given the general futility of sending rockets from Gaza, especially because the Iron Dome defense is portable and thus capable of defending a wide expanse, it is likely that Egyptian regime’s hatred of Israel and its support for Israel’s enemies led them to negotiate a cease-fire in order to buy time. Time for those hostile to Israel to figure out an alternative to the failed rockets. Time for something successful – and deadly.