Iran, Egypt and Morsi’s Choice
Breaking News: Hamas announces ceasefire to begin tonight
No one loves a war within the borders of Israel like Iran—and not merely because they hate Israel. The war comes at a great time for Iran as the International Atomic Energy Agency just released a report stating that the Persian state is stalling and keeping them from doing there job.
“In its report, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran was ready within days to ramp up its production of 20 percent enriched uranium at its plant at Fordo using 700 more centrifuges. That would double Iran’s present output and cut in half the time it would take to acquire enough of the substance needed to make a nuclear weapon, reducing it to just over three months.”[i]
FROM ROCKETS TO MISSILES—A NEW ESCALATION
Make no mistake. Iran has great influence over the actions of Hamas. Iran has been
funneling weapons to Sudan and then they are exported through (the new democratic) Egypt and into Gaza. Until now, Hamas has depended on crudely constructed and highly unpredictable Qassam and Grad Rockets. But now they have the Iranian Fajr-5 missile that can travel 75 kilometers, enabling them to reach the massive population centers of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
Over the past few days Israel has destroyed many of these, both on the ground in Gaza and using the Iron Dome missile defense system, in the air. Nevertheless, it seems that it came as a surprise to Israeli leaders that these missiles had made their way into Gaza, which marks an intelligence failure. As Hamas seems to be running low on these missiles (none fired today) there are reports that Hezbollah and Iran are aggressively seeking to resupply Hamas with more weapons.
MORSI’S CHOICE
It is far easier to lead a radical terrorist organization that has no governmental responsibility than it is to be the man in charge. As Harry S. Truman said about the presidency The Buck Stops Here! And in Egypt the buck stops with Mohamed Morsi who finds himself in a quandary.
He is Hamas. Hamas is the Muslim Brotherhood. They are cut from the same ilk. Morsi, however, is not responsible for a couple million people in Gaza, but for over 80,000,000 people, mostly poor, in the largest Arab nation. And while Hamas has been content to let its people languish in horrible conditions (lying to their people that it is because of Israel[ii]), Morsi is dependent on billions of dollars of western aid from the U.S. and Europe.
On the one hand, if he moves a little closer to sanity, seeking to broker a ceasefire, he goes against everything he claims to believe it. The very motto of the Muslim Brotherhood is:
“Allah is our objective; the Prophet is our leader; the Quran is our law; Jihad is our way; dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.”
In other words, despite the fact that they will exploit the deaths of Gazans, it is their “highest hope.” And the brothers in Hamas are doing just that… dying, and putting their children in death’s way for the cause of Islam.
The goal of Hamas is clear in their charter: “Israel will rise and will remain erect until Islam eliminates it as it had eliminated its predecessors.”
NO COMPROMISE
These are not diplomats or compromisers. These are hardliners; people who live to die for Islam. Any negotiations that lead to a settlement are merely postponing armed conflict until another opportune time. Morsi knows this—he has lived this. But if he appears to be working with the west and helps to bring the fighting in Gaza to an end, he may lose face in both his own party and the radical Muslim world—a world that believes that Hamas is doing exactly the right thing.
On the other hand, if Morsi goes the way of Iran—rejecting aid from the west and isolating Egypt from much of the world, it would plunge his newly democratic country into a far worse economic state than when under the corrupt Mubarak regime. He would score big amongst his radical followers, but pay a heavy price and could even spur a military mutiny against him (we can only hope).
At the end of the day it is amazing how many of those who will call others to die for their cause cave. I predict Morsi will cave. He will seek a way to convince Hamas to agree to a ceasefire. That is, unless one of the reasons for this conflict is not merely to distract the world from Iran, but also that Hamas may be testing Morsi and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood to see if they will stay true to the Islamic ideals—which is to destroy Israel.
As an Israeli and a believer, I take great comfort in the knowledge that we have promises from the Almighty concerning our country and people. Israelis take no delight in the misery of others, but neither will we cower in the face of an overly emotional, suicidal militant Islamic regime. Honestly, what other nation would endure such an attack?
[i] UN Nuclear Agency: Iran Poised to Expand Nuke Work
[ii] It should be noted that the border between Israel and Gaza was once open and scores of Palestinians had work visas. They would come each day into Israel and work. However, not because of Israeli aggression or any ill will toward the Arabs, but in the wake of suicide bombers coming out of Gaza and Israeli deaths, the border was eventually shut. Add to that the fact that Hamas, a terrorist organization that will gladly allow their women and children to die, if it is deemed good for their cause, was democratically elected by these people to lead them!
