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Eyal Zisser

Eyal Zisser is a lecturer in the Middle East History Department at Tel Aviv University.

Arabs ‎leaders have grown tired of waiting for the ‎Palestinian leadership to come to its senses. This is a different breed of ‎leaders, younger and more determined, who are ‎undeterred by domestic criticism.
It is now apparent that peace and quiet cannot be bought indefinitely, and the nation’s precarious economic realities will inevitably explode.
For now, and in the weeks and months to come, Syrian President Bashar Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin need the Iranians. After all, next to the Russian jets in the air, the tide of the war was turned, and the survival of Assad regime is ensured by Iranian and Hezbollah forces on the ground.
Israel’s policy is to ensure the border remains quiet, even if that means allowing Hamas to remain in power in Gaza.
Either way, Israel should now re-examine its Gaza policies, which are predicated on a willingness to accept Hamas’ ongoing rule as the lesser of two evils, if it commits to quieting tensions on the border.
Tehran only understands the language of force.
Iranian retaliation for the alleged Israeli airstrikes will eventually come, but not in the form of all-out war. It will consist of precise, if painful, blows, in the form of terrorist attacks.
After 100 years of clashes, 70 years of conflict and a quarter-century since the Oslo Accords, which were supposed to have given the Palestinians peace and land of their own, it looks like they are losing the little they have managed to obtain.
It’s a shame that Washington did not adopt the same decisive stand against North Korea to either Syria or Iran, far weaker rivals than Pyongyang.
We cannot say that we are on the brink of a third intifada. Both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority have no interest in provoking an all-out security escalation.
Hamas isn’t interested in advancing intra-Palestinian reconciliation, though it wants the P.A.’s help in boosting Gaza’s sputtering economy.
While heads of Israel’s security apparatus voice genuine concern for the well-being of Gaza’s residents, the actual leaders of Gaza are too busy building up their military might and preparing for the next military confrontation with Israel.