The Economist: Israel and Gaza Preparing for War!

With the five day aerial battle between Israel and Hamas poised to escalate into an all out ground war, the unlikely figure of Egypt's Islamist president, Muhammad Morsi, is emerging in Israeli minds as the one regional leader who can bring about a credible ceasefire, Mr Morsi declared on November 17th that there were "indications" but no certainty, that the two sides could use indirect diplomacy to end the present round of violence. Mr Morsi is in close contact with the US and European governments. He held talks in Cairo with Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the Qatari ruler, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani, both of whom are anxious to contribute to cease fire diplomacy. The Egyptian president, a long time leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, spoke of "the Israeli side", referring to Israel by its name instead of using some deprecatory sobriquet like "the Zionist enemy". That is small consolation for an Israeli establishment still hankering after the much easier rapport it had with Egypt's ousted Mubarak regime, especially in matters military. Israel uttered ominous warnings during the early months of the "Arab Spring" about the dangers of the long banned Muslim Brotherhood rising to power in Egypt. Mr Morsi's election victory elicited further dour prognostications. Like Hamas, its ideological and political acolyte, the Brotherhood does not recognize Israeli sovereignty. But Mr Morsi has walked a careful line between Israel's unpopularity with his domestic constituency and Egypt's strategic and political interest in maintaining its 33 year old peace treaty with the Jewish state. This caution was in evidence when, in response to Israel's air attacks in Gaza last week, he chose to recall his ambassador for "consultations", a relatively moderate form of diplomatic protest. His dispatch of the prime minister, Hisham Kandil, on a "solidarity visit" to Gaza on November 16th, was a clear signal of Egypt's desire to mediate, and was recognized as such by Israeli officials and public alike. Hence, the moment, brief, alas, of relief and hope that palpably swept the country on the morning of November 18th. People awoke to reports of an almost entirely peaceful night in the south, and to local and foreign media speculation of an imminent ceasefire to be brokered by Egypt. No rockets from Gaza disturbed these early morning reveries. The night had not passed peacefully in Gaza, however. Israeli warplanes bombed rocket launch sites and other Hamas targets.