Does Israel want to see the Palestinian Authority back in power in Gaza?
Israeli officials say they do, though they know Mahmoud Abbas would never want to be seen as being restored to power by Israel. Israeli analysts have also noted that unifying Gaza and the West Bank, as they were regarded until 2007, would present a number of issues Israel doesn’t have to worry about right now, such as links that would run through Israel. Senior Palestinian officials worry that Israel prefers to see the two entities governed separately so that each would be weak and lack clout in negotiations with Israel. Egypt would not like to see the two remain split. Egypt worries that it might be pushed into taking responsibility for Gaza and its teeming refugee population, something it did from 1948-67, and doesn’t want to do again. What are Egypt’s goals? Cairo wants Gazans to be prosperous, peaceful and to remain in Gaza. President Hosni Mubarak is worried about the growing political strength of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. If Hamas, an offshoot of the Brotherhood, should em
