Day 28 of the Gaza war: An honest look at the suffering in Gaza...
Q. Last week, Israelis appeared to think the Gaza war was over. Now we seem to have entered a cycle of
ceasefires and negotiations. Has a new dynamic emerged?
A. Yes. Roughly speaking, it breaks down as follows. Both sides are now completely dependent on Egyptian mediation:
Israel willingly, because Egypt is more hostile than ever to Hamas and is strategically friendly to Israel; and
Hamas unwillingly, having lost any capacity to recruit its supporters Turkey and Qatar to mediate and having
accepted that the West Bank-based PLO and Palestinian Authority represent it.
This week, Alpher discusses the ceasefire talks; whether Israel should cooperate with its investigation of the conduct of the Gaza war; the Obama-Netanyahu tensions; and remembers Leibel Fein.
This week, Alpher discusses military stagnation and attrition, how the Israeli public is viewing Netanyahu and Yaalon's caution, last week's promise by Netanyahu of a "new political horizon" and his release of a report that Hamas had planned an intifada and a power grab on the West Bank, the talk of a new and dramatic proposal from Abu Mazen, and a UN option, and where this bewildering catalogue of diplomatic and military initiatives leaves us.
(Monday, August 25, day 49 of the Gaza conflict)