ALLIANCE SHIFTS

Arab States Backing Away From Hamas

Not showing Hamas support.

A number of Arab countries have remained noticeably silently when it comes to the latest violence between Israelis and Palestinians. Middle East experts say the lack of vocal Arab support comes from concerns that Hamas is more dangerous to their interests than Israel is. Aaron David Miller of the Brookings Insitute and former Middle East negotiator said, “The Arab states’ loathing and fear of political Islam is so strong that it outweighs their allergy to Benjamin Netanyahu.” The shift is evidenced by Egypt’s publicly proposed cease-fire, which was more palpable to Israel than to Hamas, and the fact that King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia commended it. Khaled Elgindy, a former adviser to Palestinian negotiators, said “There is clearly a convergence of interests of these various regimes with Israel.”