Channel 13 News’ Arab affairs commentator, Zvi Yehezkali, claimed today (Sunday) that Israel should take military action in Rafah despite international criticism.
"I see all the messages from the Europeans, 'Rafah, be careful'. They don't want us to win. Egypt doesn't want us to win, Qatar doesn't want us to win and I doubt if the US wants us to win," said Yehezkeli in an interview with 103FM.
Yehezkeli explained the Egyptian resistance. "Egypt is a huge paradox. They know the danger of the Muslim Brotherhood, but because it's a Palestinian issue, they somehow support them. Why doesn't Sisi open the border? Because he still has some kind of interest that we should be the ones breaking our heads. Do you understand the difference? They hate Hamas, but they don't hate it enough to partner with you and kill them together."
According to Yehezkeli, "I think Israel should have bombed the Philadelphi Corridor at the beginning of the war and controlled it. They keep saying 'fear of the Egyptians', 'fear of the world'. Don't forget that in the first weeks of the war – we didn't consider the world’s opinion. We could have done a lot of things. I think I would have done It".
"The nature of the military action in Rafah will determine the performance at the border. Some Palestinians may run to the border. Egypt has self-pride. This is great and all is well, but this is not the Egypt of twenty years ago," he concluded.