re: #95 sliv_the_eli

Your suggestiong that Egypt take over the Gaza Strip is a logical one, but is also one that will never occur for several reasons. To cite just two, Egypt will not take it back because it comes with a couple million Palestinians who Egypt would just as soon not have any actual responsibility for. Second, given the looming threat of a very anti-Israel regime in Egypt — even the so-called “moderate” candidates for office have raised questions about the continued viability of the peace treaty with Israel — Israel is not about to let Egypt get control of a finger sticking into Israel’s nether regions.

Frankly, one of Menachem Begin’s biggest mistakes when negotiating peace with Anwar Sadat was that he did not insist the Egyptians take back the Gaza Strip. His reticence was almost certainly a result of his experiences during the Shoah and Israel’s formative years, and his fear that Egypt would use the Gaza Strip, as it did between 1948 and 1967, as a launching pad for fedayeen attacks against Israelis. The Egyptians, for their part, were no more interested in the Gaza Strip then they would be today.

You are correct, in all particulars.

This is a hell of situation, where Israel’s made peace with the two nations it took the land from in 67 to begin with, but they don’t want their land back.