Egypt: Navigating the Gaza Crisis

The Muslim Brotherhood, the Egyptian Islamist opposition organization, has sponsored numerous anti-government demonstrations since the Jan. 23 breaching of the Egyptian-Gaza border. Cairo greatly fears Muslim Brotherhood-Hamas solidarity because of the risk of an Islamist uprising in Egypt and must therefore simultaneously block Hamas' agenda and stay on its good side. Egypt’s actions are probably also intended to push Israel into assuming security responsibility for the Gaza border once again, leaving Egypt free to deal with its domestic issues.