Op-Ed / Middle East & North Africa 19 December 2012 1 minute A Changing Region: Israel's Islamist Dilemma Share Facebook Twitter Email Linkedin Whatsapp Save Print As Operation Pillar of Defense, Israel’s recent eight-day campaign in Gaza, drew to a close, it seemed to many Israelis that their worst fears about the Arab uprisings had come to pass. An emboldened Hamas and its allies in Gaza launched an unprecedented number of mortars and missiles farther than ever before, putting more than half of Israel under fire. Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi and other Arab officials openly proclaimed solidarity with Israel’s enemy. While the final tally of Israeli casualties was fairly limited -- six dead and more than 240 wounded -- the panic was not. The cease-fire declaration, which reflected Hamas’ demands more than Israel’s,seemed to confirm that the regional rules had changed and, from Israel’s perspective, not for the better. In the time since the fighting ended, however, a re-evaluation, at least in some quarters, has set in. Israel, an increasing number argue, achieved many of the relatively modest aims that it had set for itself: It destroyed many of Hamas’s rockets, killed a number of senior Islamist militants and extracted a promise from the U.S. to curtail arms smuggling through Egypt. Read full article here... Related Tags Contributors Robert Blecher Program Director, Future of Conflict RobBlecher Ofer Zalzberg Former Senior Analyst, Arab-Israeli Conflict OferZalzberg More for you Podcast / Middle East & North Africa What Hope for a Gaza Ceasefire and What Happens Without One? Commentary / United States Meltdown Looms for the West Bank’s Financial Lifelines Also available in Also available in Arabic