Egyptian Concerns About Hamas
By David Schenker
Notwithstanding former President Carter’s embrace of Khaled Masha'l last week, there is little optimism in the region that Hamas is poised to change its stripes. Indeed, after Carter’s departure, Hamas officials rolled back his amazing assessment that the terrorist organization was finally prepared to accept the right of Israel to “live as a neighbor next door in peace.”
Judging from the official statements on the Carter visit, Israel is not under any illusions about Hamas. Neither is Egypt. Cairo has long maintained ties to Hamas, but is increasingly concerned about the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood hooking up with its Egyptian counterpart. Now, with US assistance, Cairo is preparing to build a fence on its own border with Gaza.
I wrote an article about this latest fence on the Palestinian border in the Weekly Standard. Another article, published on Friday by the Washington Institute, details the current political and social crisis in Egypt, which will likely result in increased support for Egypt’s Islamists.