The Gaza Break Out

My first reaction to the breaching of the border wall separating Gaza from Egypt was to regard the event as a strategic disaster for Israel. This may very well turn out to be the case, but the course of events has become complex indeed. However one looks at the break out, the event is extremely important. No Israeli government can agree to an American-brokered peace with Mahmoud Abbas's Palestinian authority if Hamas, dedicated to Israel's destruction, continues to control Gaza and has a realistic chance of controlling all of the Palestinian territories and, as Bret Stephens suggests in his column below, stands a chance of controlling Egypt.

Three views of the Gaza break out appear worth of note. (All are required reading for WREL 374.) They are:

a. Steven Erlanger, "Israel's Experimental Pressure Backfires," Sunday New York Times Review of the Week, January 27, 2008. Erlanger has been following the story on the scene from the start. He has a pro-Palestinian bias although in true liberal style, he would probably say that he is only trying to be fair to all sides. His account can be found

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/world/middleeast/27mideast.
html?scp=7&sq=steven+erlanger&st=nytat:

b. Daniel Pipes, a Harvard PhD in Middle Eastern Studies, who writes a column for the New York Sun and is regarded as a reliable analyst of the Middle East and its conflicts, has offered his own ideas as to how to solve the problem of Gaza. His essay is "Jordan to the West Bank; Egypt to Gaza." He rejects the idea of an independent Palestinian state and argues for a Jordanian take- over of the West Bank and an Egyptian take-over of Gaza. His views reflect those of a number of influential Israelis. His analysis can be found at:
http://www.danielpipes.org/blog_pf.php?id=484

c: Bret Stephens is a member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board. In my opinion, he has written one of the most insightful analysis of the consequences of the breakout for both Israel and Egypt, "The Gaza Breakout." It can be found at:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120156765863623885.
html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries